(Chelsea Update would like to thank Marka Eberle for the information and photos in this story.)
Beach Middle School Robotics Club attended the Howell qualifier with the most teams and the best parents.
It was a different level of competition, as 12 of the 36 teams (including our Glitch) had already qualified for States. This meant hard fought battles against veteran teams.
The Gremlins had a number of nail-biter battles. The highlight was the match where the Gremlin’s bot tipped over, yet the skilled driving allowed them to nab a last beacon. They ended up with 2-3 record, finishing 26th.
The Gremlins were second to none in personality and spirit, even sporting customized gremlin-ears.
The Glitch nabbed the Control Award again for their use of advanced programming techniques. They distinguished themselves with power driving and teamwork with their fellow robots. The team showed Bulldog tenacity and never gave up driving or fine tuning their autonomous program.
The Crash again wowed the crowd with expert driving, shooting, and exemplary teamwork. They also went 2-3 and finished 27th. As one of the youngest teams, made up of 6th and 7th graders, they conducted themselves with professionalism and poise.
A special thanks to the Chelsea High School robotics mentors from Team #1502, Anne Findlay and Dacio Romero, who helped the younger teams through another grueling competition.
Many thanks to the enthusiastic parents and grandparents who cheered on our young engineers. Also, a shout out to the key sponsor, Consumers’ Energy and Bauer Controls, who helped make this possible.
The Glitch will compete Saturday, Dec. 17 in the State Championship in Battle Creek. All of the Beach Robotics team members will cheer them on.
