Saline, Dexter, Milan, Chelsea Compete at State; Two Teams Advance to Worlds

By Elliot McMichael and Karen Lambert

At Michigan’s state robotics competition April 15-18 in Saginaw, the state’s top 160 robotics teams vied for a chance to attend the FIRST World Championship in Texas.

Among those competing were Saline’s Singularity, Dexter’s Dreadbots, Chelsea’s Technical Difficulties and Milan’s Code Red Robotics:  First Responders. Each qualified from amongst 531 high school teams statewide. According to Gail Alpert, chairman and president of FIRST in Michigan, the state supports more than 3,000 FIRST teams from elementary through high school.

“It was really fun being at state, actually being part of the Code Red team that hadn’t been in six years, and experiencing all four fields together, as well as all the teams in the combined pits,” said Ethan Rice, who serves on Milan’s business team, pit crew, and as a technician.

The event is Saginaw Valley State University’s largest multi-day event of the year—with only commencement rivaling it in size. Teams are divided into groups of 40 across four fields. Robots compete with 504 balls per field for a total of 2,016 balls, said Lead Robot Inspector John Bacon.

Gracious Professionalism

John Wolfert, one of the judges, said the robots are the least important part of the event.

“These kids learn integrity, problem solving, how to work together, community service, because the most important award you can win is the Impact Award,” Wolfert said.

Wolfert said he saw an example of that character-building aspect at an earlier Worlds. One team’s elevator broke when they had a match in about an hour against a top team from Canada. The Canadian team sent four students to help fix the robot.

“They said, ‘We want to send our team to help yours because we want to play against you at your best,’” Wolfert said.

Saline’s Robot Bumblebee

Saline’s team, Singularity, ended the event ranked 6^th on the Hemlock Semiconductor Division at the state competition and 24^th overall in the state for the season, earning a trip to World’s for the first time in the team’s 13-season history. They were Captains of Alliance 5, a District Champion Finalist and also won the Innovation in Control Award on the Hemlock Semiconductor Field.

Team Mentor Michelle King said the team took on an ambitious design this year and also worked hard to build relationships with other teams in preparation for selecting a strong alliance.

Fionn Hartley-Beane, a senior, served as co-lead of programming and as a technician. Hartley-Beane said he learned leadership and technical skills, including how to program effective autonomous modes. His secret:  Do it over and over to make it smoother, faster and better.

Saline’s team 5066 has also helped a team in Sri Lanka develop a robotics program using available materials like door hinges and household products and has been active in community outreach, both of which freshman Layla Aldeeb has participated in, building on her three years in middle school robotics.

“It’s absolutely shaped who I am,” Aldeeb said.

Saline’s head coach of 12 years, Brent Bendes, and six mentors lead the team.

“The biggest strength the team has shown is the willingness to try and the drive to push through even when things seem impossible,” King said. “This was demonstrated again and again during our three competitions.

Saline’s ability to innovate came into play during the team’s first practice match Thursday, when they shattered their shooter, which they had redesigned between their second competition in Saline and the state competition.

“It crashed right into the trench and pieces went everywhere. The team quickly assessed the damage, gathered all our available spare parts, and 3D printed the ones they were missing and started piecing it back together,” King said. “During the first three qualification matches there were still some residual issues from the shattered shooter, but after each match the team came together, made adjustments and headed back out to compete.”

That type of resilience will continue to serve the team as it prepares for Worlds, King said.

Dexter’s Robot Sue Rexie

Dexter High School’s team 3656, The Dreadbots, achieved the highest score recorded on Consumers Energy Foundation Field, earning 15th place in their division at the competition. Their overall ranking of 61^st in the state also qualified them for World Competition.

Adding to the Dreadbots’ accomplishments, one of their mentors James Bryson was nominated for the prestigious Woody Flowers Award, which recognizes excellence in mentorship within FIRST for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Bryson has been with the team for 15 years and hosted the team in his garage for two seasons before they found other facilities.

The path to the playoffs was far from smooth. Co-mechanical lead Felix Davis, attending his 3rd state competition, described significant challenges, including the robot’s shooter being destroyed twice. Each time, the team repaired it before the next match.

“I’ve learned more about repairing things quickly,” Davis said.

This ability to adapt under pressure became a repeating theme for the Dreadbots. Co-captain Izzy Martinez emphasized the team’s spirit to push through challenges rather than lose that momentum.

“We made it through,” Martinez said, “We had a lot of breaks. I’m proud of the way we handled them. We could have given up.”

This resilience was tested during the Dreadbots’ first playoff match against the top alliance. A heavy hit hammered the Dreadbots’ battery so hard that the robot was left completely disabled for the remainder of the match.

Even with the setback, the team remained focused and continued to press on with their alliance partners as far as they could, until being eliminated in the second elimination bracket.

As Co-captain Luke Baur highlighted, the technical growth that came from constant adjustments to the challenges that arose improved the robot’s performance over time.

“We had to do a lot of tuning,” Baur said. “We left competition more accurate than we entered.”

Chelsea’s Robot Pancake

Chelsea advanced to the playoffs on the DTE Energy Foundation Field as part of Alliance 4, reaching the third round before being eliminated by top teams. They also won the Quality Award in the division.

Team members came together to build a state-level robot and said their robots had great consistency until the gears were stripped on one wheel during a match Friday leaving their bot unable to move. The team worked together to fix their bot before playoffs Saturday morning.

A large team, Chelsea has created a system of supports to make sure every student is progressing. That’s a major goal of Sophomore Lane VanHevel, who was co-design lead for the first time and worked to make sure tasks were delegated.

Others have jobs ranging from marketing to project management.

“I try to coordinate our team to make sure we get it done in time,” said Project Manager and Senior Rory Welling.

Ethan Holly leads marketing and community engagement, sends press releases, organizes and advertises their fundraiser Wrap-a-palooza, and takes photos.

Ninth grader Ryan Brown helped with programming, something he hopes to continue next year.

“I’ve learned a lot about how a real team operates and how the different sub-teams work together,” Brown said.

For many, supporting Team 1502 has become a family tradition. 

Seventh grader Mariah Lesser, a member of the middle school team, is considered an honorary member of the high school team because she attends with older siblings and helps with scouting from the stands.

Olivia Morrow, a 9^th grader, has attended robotics competitions since age 7, accompanying her brother. This year, she worked as a programmer and scouter. 

“I love the environment,” she said.

Milan’s Robot MC³

Milan also competed in the DTE Energy Foundation Division, with the support of community sponsors, including Moving Milan Forward, which helped raise the $5,000 needed to attend state, a significant accomplishment for a six-student team responsible for building, coding, and marketing.

Milan’s Robot 5567 started out the season with a first-place win partnered with future state championship team Rush. They had consistent performances in Saline and at state due to improvements to the launcher, intake and auto modes. Driver and Junior Team Safety Captain Carter Scott also won the Safety All-Star Award.

Rice said developing a robot that stayed operational for every match was their biggest accomplishment.

“I have learned how to work on a team in the build room and at competitions and build a robot,” Rice said, “including how to use tools, how to measure and cut materials, and build to specs. I have also learned how to present to people and work on public speaking, while talking to potential sponsors.”

Rice said those skills can prepare him and other students for careers both in and beyond STEM fields.

After packing up, team members congratulated each other on reaching the state competition. The students put in long hours and filled multiple roles.

They also expressed gratitude to their coaches and mentors for building up the team. Team Safety Captain and Programming Lead Jackie Lambert named the robot MC³, which stands for Milan and the first initial of the two coaches and a longtime mentor: Chris Overbeek, Chad Strimpel, and Curt Glushyn.

Students also recognized former coaches Jennifer Glushyn and McKenzie Chappell, English teachers whose organizational skills built the program over a decade, earning the 2019 Chairman’s Award and attending Worlds in 2018 and 2019.

Coach Overbeek said continuous improvement is the goal going forward.

“I hope the kids saw that we can set our sights higher,” Overbeek said, “and there are achievements we haven’t even begun to consider.”