Excerpted from The County Press
The combined Lapeer East and Lapeer West robotics team earned a silver medal as second place district finalists in the March 4-5 FIRST district competition at Kettering University in Flint.
The combined Lapeer East and Lapeer West team, named “The Chimeras” snagged the silver medal as second place district finalists. The Lapeer County Education and Technology Center’s rookie team, GalakTech 3535, battled their way successfully to the semi-final round of the competition, making its mark as a serious contender.
“It was our first competition we ever made it that far,” said Chimeras team mentor Jon Uren of their second place prize. “It was really cool ... to walk out there and get that award.”
Uren confirmed that impressive performance, saying, “They did phenomenal ... They just excelled beyond belief.”
The scene at Kettering University’s field house was chaotic and spirited as 38 teams of teens, their mentors and their robots filled the pit areas. The teams spent the last six weeks designing and building robots that could tote inflatables and place them on pegs high up in the air. They also built mini-bots that could race up a pole.
Team spirit was evident everywhere. The Chimeras wore matching team shirts and sported black and white face paint. The Lapeer West Panther was spotted roaming the stands as well.
Team members were in a constant state of motion as they tweaked their robots in the pits before delivering them to the field of play. Rock music pulsed through building adding to the intense atmosphere. As they took their entries to compete, shouts of “Robot! Robot!” could be heard above the din so people could make way in the crowded pit area.For each match, robots were placed into competition with robot operators lined up at each end of the field behind a plexiglass wall. The robots then battled it out, placing the inflatables on pegs to form the FIRST logo.
There was no shortage of team spirit as kids, parents and mentors cheered, jumping and up and down, noisily rooting for their robots during the matches. Post-event interviews made it apparent that two days of yelling took its toll.
The Chimeras are barely taking a breath as they prepare to compete again at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor Mar. 25-26 in another district competition, as they vie for a spot in the state and national championships. They are tweaking and upgrading their ‘bots.
“The kids are extremely excited. They really want first. They’re putting all their effort into it. They’re pumped,” said Uren. “We have a good robot with a good strategy. We’re pretty dangerous.” He said he thinks The Chimeras have a good shot at the nationals this year.
The Juggernauts of Pontiac, Killer Bees from Auburn Hills and T.O.R.C. from Oxford won the district competition. Metal & Soul of Capac won the Chairman’s Award, qualifying the team for state finals. Along with The Chimeras, the Martians of Goodrich and the Dragons of Swartz Creek earned silver medals as second place district finalists.
Photos by Nancy Elliott
Photo caption
Chimeras coach Tony Diodato and team members from Lapeer East and Lapeer West tweak their robot during pit time.
