A small group of Whitewater High School students, Elijah Grall, Jazmin Cederberg, Peter Portwine, Emerson Dunham, Andrew O’Toole, Andrew Zimmermann, Payton Bunger, and Mel Prince fielded two robots at the Lakeshore Invitational in Manitowoc on Saturday, July 16, and Ferradermis’ in-season competition robot (wearing #6574) brought home a blue banner as the captain of the winning alliance.
The second Ferradermis robot (wearing #9574) is the team’s off-season project bot allowing the team to implement a swerve drive for the first time and experiment with some alternative designs for mechanisms. Fielding a second bot also allows more students to get experience as members of a drive team. In one qualification match, #6574 and #9574 faced off against each other, and in another, they were able to play on the same randomly assigned alliance.
After a hard-fought day of competition with and against 15 total robots, Ferradermis became the captain of the #3-seeded playoff alliance and asked Team #930 the Mukwonago Bears and Team #7768 The Iron Hill Automatons from Iron River, Michigan to join our alliance. The Ferradermis-led alliance defeated the #2-seeded alliance 2-0 in a best of three series, and then faced the #1-seeded alliance captained by 2202 BEAST Robotics from Brookfield, winner of two in-season regional events, in the best of three finals. The Ferradermis alliance won the first match and then dropped the second but came back strong to take the third with all three of our alliance robots climbing to secure the win.
Ferradermis wrapped up their summer off-season competitions with a championship at MROC, the Mukwonago Robotics Off-Season Competition, on Sunday, July 24, at Mukwonago High School.
Sunday’s competition brought together 18 high school robotics teams with 20 robots from across Wisconsin and Illinois. Both Ferradermis and host the Mukwonago Bears fielded two robots, having done summer projects to experiment with a different type of drive base. Among the 18 teams were 5 teams who had won a regional championship during the regular season, so the competition was intense all day long.
Ferradermis was ranked #2 after the qualification rounds and was invited to join the #1-seeded alliance led by the #1 ranked team, Team #2202 BEAST Robotics from Brookfield Central and Brookfield East. The two teams then invited Team #1792 Round Table Robotics from Oak Creek to round out the alliance. The alliance earned a bye in the quarterfinals, and then went 2-0 in the best of 3 semi-finals and finals to claim the championship.
Ferradermis’ second robot (operating as #9574) was ranked in the low teens after qualifications and was the second pick of the #4-seeded alliance, joining alliance captain Team #2451 PWNAGE from St. Charles, Illinois, and Team #1732 Hilltopper Robotics from Marquette University High School. This alliance fell to the #1 alliance in the semi-finals as the two Ferradermis robots faced off.
Summer off-season competitions are a great way for younger members to get more hands on with the robots and gain some experience as part of a drive team. Ferradermis will welcome new members in September. Freshmen will be able to indicate their interest during the Freshman Activities Fair on the first day of school, and older students should watch for signs and announcements or reach out to a current member. Parents or students with questions can email Laura Masbruch at lmasbruch@wwusd.org.