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Wow! A Curie Sub-Division WINNER blue banner for our precious lineup of blue banners. Against all statistical software we could find, against what was colloquially the projected winners of the entire competition, against arguable crowd favorites, The Force Team 1073 executed phenomenal strategies and came out on top of the most stacked Sub-Division at the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in Detroit, Michigan. We did not achieve this feat alone; we were paired up with alliance captain 4th seeded team FRC195 The Cyberknights from Connecticut, second offensive robot FRC3538 RoboJackets from Michigan, and back-up offense robot FRC230 Gaelhawks also from Connecticut where we as the third robot were selected for mainly defensive capabilities and strategy execution.
Match after match, Mercury jumped off HAB 2, worked on hatch panel placement during Sandstorm, pushed numerous drivetrain configurations throughout the match (and across the field during some of our favorites), and occasionally hopped up for a 2nd or 3rd level climb at the end. For one of our qualification matches we switched things up and played offense, scoring 11 game pieces between cargo and hatch panels. Overall, the 10 wheeled Force Team robot's happy place was on the other side of the field, preventing hatch panels and cargo from being scored, denying rank points, and effectively shifting between gears to out-maneuver opponents while being in the way.
We received an honorable mention for our pit safety while at this event, collected numerous buttons from teams around the world, and attended seminars to increase our own program's offerings.
What an incredible official season; Destination: DEEP SPACE was quite the destination, and Mercury served us well.