All three Burroughs Robotics teams attended Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo last Saturday, March 4, for the VEX State Championship.\

The teams all used a similar robot design utilizing an intake, with a flywheel launcher for the discs.

The JV (7422B) and Freshman (7442C) teams received their qualification through a “last chance” tournament, while Varsity (7422H) qualified through a win at their league finals.

At the SLO event, the teams each participated in six qualifying events before entering the tournament bracket. They also competed in voluntary skills events where drivers and coders could showcase their ability to control the robot in individual games.

The teams were there for a total of 10 hours.

Despite spending the months following the last competition working on an advanced turret-based robot, the Varsity team switched to their backup robot.

“It was more refined and suited to the competition than our turret bot,” explained senior Kieron Rank. The team finished in 14th place overall ahead of the Freshman team at 21st, but behind the JV at 8th.

For the finals bracket, each team formed an alliance with another team to work together to try and get the highest score possible. JV (7422B) picked Varsity (7422H), and Freshman (7422C) picked a Bakersfield team (7983K). Both teams lost in the first round with JV and Varsity suffering a rather controversial decision by the judges.

Robotics Advisor Damien Jacotin applauded the team’s effort and is already looking ahead to next year.

“I am very proud of everyone,” said Jacotin. “As we have so many freshmen this year, the next few years should be wonderful.”

This is not the end for the robotics team, and after a short and well deserved break they will continue with next year’s competition which has yet to be announced. Until then the freshman will continue enhancing their knowledge of what is possible with some help from the retiring seniors.