Rank 1. Five Consecute St. Louis Regional titles. Acceptance into the World Championships. That has been the upward trajectory of the Ratchet Rockers Robotics Team and they will only continue to improve. New heights that were once thought unbelievable are now in reach and “World Championship Winner” might not be just another hopeless dream. Moreover, Wentzville’s Robotics Team has achieved great success over the past several weeks and have exceeded others expectations by proving that they do have that “all-star quality.
Ratchet Rockers Robotics Team 1706 is a robotics team that is composed of 47 students who represent all four of Wentzville School District’s (WSD) high schools that includes Liberty, North Point, Holt, and Timberland.
In addition to that, they competed in the Oklahoma Regional in Enid, Oklahoma where they finished Rank 1 with a 16-0-0 record, and received an Innovation in Control Award. And they also competed in the St. Louis Regional where they finished Rank 1 again with a 15-0-0 record, and received another Innovational in Control award and their fifth consecutive St. Louis Regional title.
Now, there are only opportunities for more success because the Ratchet Rockers Robotics Team will be competing in the First Robotics Competition (FRC) World Championships in Houston Texas, from April 29 to May 2. Additionally, they are now ranked 41st in the world out of over 3,700 robotics teams.
Brenden Buchanan (11), a 3-year member of the Ratchet Rockers Robotics Team, demonstrated exactly what these robotics competitions entail.
“Each competition consists of typically 40+ teams all competing against each other. During each competition, each team gets roughly 10 qualification matches to determine where they rank against the other teams,” Buchanan said. “For qualification matches, you are placed against three random teams, and you are assigned two random teammates to work with. Each match is different, so one match you may be playing against one team, and working with them the next match. This year’s game consists of certain ‘ranking points’ that are obtained by meeting certain scoring criteria during each match. Whatever team has the most ranking points after qualifications is ranked first.”
“The top eight ranked teams then choose who they want to join their alliance for playoffs. This selection runs in a basic NBA style draft, where teams can accept and deny being on an alliance if they wish to create their own. This process runs until all eight alliances are completed with three teams each (4 at the world championship so each alliance has a backup robot),” Buchanan said. “After the alliance selection is complete, all eight alliances move to a double-elimination style bracket. The alliances then run through the bracket until only two remain, which will compete in a best-of-3 style finals. Whichever alliance is the first to reach two wins in the finals, wins the event.”
Buchanan conveyed how it felt to win their most recent competitions as well.
“Winning our two recent regionals has felt amazing. We went completely undefeated through our regionals, which is the first time in team history we have done this,” Buchanan said. “Before our first competition we were very nervous about how our robot would compare against the other robot, especially since we were competing at a week 1 event, and hadn’t seen very many other robots yet. After we won our first event we felt very confident for our second event.”
“Our second event was more for experimentation and testing some new changes to the robot. Most of these changes are adjustments that will be improved upon for the world championship,” Buchanan said. Winning our second event gave us more confidence in the robot’s abilities, and confirmed that some of our changes were working. So we feel great coming off of these two undefeated wins, and we are excited for the championships.”
Hester Menier, sponsor of the robotics club, also indicated why it was significant that their team set new records and created new streaks.
“The goal of this team is to continually improve and use the knowledge we have learned to help others do the same,” Menier said. “That is why we invite other teams to come practice with us and learn alongside our students. When everyone is improving, the competition only gets better.”
Isabella Hufty (12), a 3-year member of the Ratchet Rocker Robotics Team, communicated why it was significant that their robotics team was creating new history too.
“It’s significant that we continue setting streaks and winning because it shows us how we grow,” Hufty said. “Everytime we break a streak or win a competition, we know we did better than last time, and that our ideas are working. It’s a pretty good morale boost over all.”
Wentville’s very own robotics team has also figured out how to utilize each of their team member’s capabilities to the fullest to increase their chances of winning and to make sure that everyone’s talents are accurately showcased.
Buchanan further explained how these strategies helped their team win numerous competitions.
“One thing that really helped win these competitions is the great work the team does in the different areas,” Buchanan said. “I drive the robot, so sometimes things end up going wrong during a match. But our pit crew has done a great job of diagnosing these issues, and fixing them quick enough to be able to win the next match. Our team has also done a great job with our scouting and strategy.
“The match strategy has been very helpful in knowing our teammates strengths, and how we can work with them to get the best performance out of everyone. The strategy also helps us know what our opponents might do during a match, and how we can beat them by using what we know we can exploit to get an advantage,” Buchanan said. “The scouting so far has been amazing as well. During every single match we have scouts watching every robot, tracking their scoring, and reporting on things that they do great, and what they might need to work on. This data helps us to make the best choice on who we want to play with us, and help us win the competition.”
What’s more is that the Ratchet Rockers Robotics Team takes what they have learned from the mistakes they made in previous competitions and then implements new strategies or ideas into their current competitions which has proven to be very successful.
Hufty further expressed how their team prepares for upcoming competitions.
“We prepare for upcoming competitions by looking at what went well at our previous competition and what went wrong,” Hufty said. “This way we can iterate on the design for our robot, and make it more efficient. We also watch other teams’ competitions to see what they are doing, and see if we want to implement certain ideas others had, onto our robot in some way.”
Additionally, Wentzville School District’s robotics had created a sense of community among students and fostered lifelong friendships. And it has not only solidified engineering as a career path for some students, but has renewed their love for science and mathematics.
Buchanan then shared what Ratchet Rockers Robotics Team means to him.
“This team means a lot to me,” Buchanan said. “This team has introduced me to some of my best friends. Being able to work with other students from the other high schools means I get to meet other people that I probably would not have met without being on this team.”
Additionally, the Ratchet Rockers Robotics Team can serve as a stepping stone for students in the future careers that they want to pursue. This program gives students valuable experience that they will use well later on into their lives.
Menier also illustrated how this team has helped students to be successful in the future.
“This is an amazing program and team. How many high school activities can say that the majority of their students go pro after being on the team?” Menier said. “Our alumni go on to very successful careers, and many return to mentor the team as adults. It is a testament to how good the program is and continues to be.”
Lastly, for any more additional information about Ratchet Rockers Robotics Team 1706, visit www.team1706.com.
