Truck Town Thunder Competes at FIRST In Michigan Robotics State Championship

The FIRS
T in Michigan Robotics State Championships were held April 10-12, 2014 at the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, MI.

FIRST Team 68, Truck Town Thunder, was privileged to be one of 64 teams to participate in the annual event.  Governor Rick Snyder spoke at the event to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of Michigan FIRST teams and to express the importance of programs like FIRST Robotics to the future of the State of Michigan. The governor proudly boasted that there were more new teams this year in Michigan than the other 49 states combined and announced new goals to raise the number of teams in Michigan to 450, a nearly 40 percent increase.  After concluding his remarks, Governor Snyder stayed on to watch the event.

Each of the teams played in 12 of the 128 qualification matches, where Truck Town Thunder seeded 10th and was assured a spot in the elimination matches.  Then came the critically important alliance selections. Team 51, Wings of Fire, chose Team 68, Truck Town Thunder and Team 862, Lightning Robotics, to join their fight in the elimination matches.  The competition was fierce and Truck Town’s alliance made it to match 2 of the quarterfinals before being eliminated.

During the awards ceremony, the team was thrilled to receive the most prestigious award in all of FIRST. Team 33, the Killer Bees, Team 503, Frog Force, and Team 68, Truck Town Thunder each won the Regional Chairman’s Award.  The award honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST.

Truck Town Thunder has had a great season so far, which includes:

• Winning the Great Lakes Bay Region FIRST Robotics District Competition
• Receiving the District Chairman’s Award at the Waterford FIRST Robotics District Competition
• Being honored with a Regional Chairman’s Award at the FIRST in Michigan Robotics State Championship.

These achievements have led Truck Town Thunder, and select others, to represent the State of Michigan at the FIRST World Championships being held in St. Louis, Missouri April 23-26, 2014. Detroit Public Television broadcast the event. Click here to view the video from the event.