The County Press

Strike Zone robotics team put up ‘valiant fight’ at FIRST competition




Lapeer’s Strike Zone No. 5460 robotics team earned 55 points toward their State Competition berth, with another match scheduled in East Kentwood on March 29-30.

Lapeer’s Strike Zone No. 5460 robotics team earned 55 points toward their State Competition berth, with another match scheduled in East Kentwood on March 29-30.

LAPEER — Lapeer Community School’s youngest robotics team — Strike Zone, Team 5460, competed in the FIRST Robotics competition March 9-10 in Milford.

The competition was “intense,” said team mentor Margaret Tompkins, with plenty of “ups and downs.” After battling electrical glitches all day Friday, Strike Zone were ranked 11 out of 40 teams going into the alliance selection and were chosen by the 3rd place alliance, Electro Eagles from Hartland, Michigan, to be their partner for the rest of the competition.

“I’m very proud of our students for not giving up and working through every problem,” said team mentor Tony Diodato. Despite the issues, the team managed to pull off a rare maneuver in which they filled a “rocket ship” with cargo without assistance from their alliance partners. The “solo rocket” gained their alliance a ranking point.

Strike Zone went into the quarterfinals with a winning record and fought their way through the brackets to face the first-seed alliance in the finals. Now performing at full strength, Strike Zone’s robot, Voyager, along with the two other robots of their alliance, beat the first-seed alliance in the first playoff match. The Electro Eagles’ robot arm broke in the final seconds of the second match and forced a tie breaker. With no time to repair it, said Tompkins, Electro Eagles were forced to play defense and Voyager was the only scoring robot.

Strike Zone’s robot, Voyager, overcame electrical issues early in the meet to rally for a second-place finish. Strike Zone is currently ranked 32 out of 542 teams in Michigan.

Strike Zone’s robot, Voyager, overcame electrical issues early in the meet to rally for a second-place finish. Strike Zone is currently ranked 32 out of 542 teams in Michigan.

Strike Zone coach Matt Schneider said the team put up “a valiant fight” but could not outscore the first alliance at full strength. “Obviously we would have preferred the win, but given the way the tournament started, I’m pretty happy with the outcome,” he said.

Strike Zone ended up as a District Event Finalist in addition to winning the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors. “All in all, it was an extremely successful event,” said Tompkins, and Strike Zone earned 55 points toward getting them into the State Competition. They are currently ranked 32 out of 542 teams in Michigan. Next up on the season for Strike Zone is a competition in East Kentwood on March 29-30.