Team 1706, the Ratchet Rockers, end yet another successful robotics season in Houston, Texas. The team was undefeated all season, until the last rounds of the competition within their division, and walked away with a final record of 45 wins, 2 losses, and 0 ties. 

The Ratchet Rockers competed in the Hopper Division, working their way through qualifiers to secure a spot as Second Alliance Captain. With the three teams 1706 picked to join their alliance, they fought their way to the top, making it to finals. 

“This is the first time we have gone to finals in our division two years in a row, which was our main goal we wanted to achieve,” Brenden Buchanan (11), driver for the team, said.

Winning the first of three finals, the Ratchet Rockers lost their very first match of the season during the second finals round. While they were ultimately defeated and unable to move onto Einstein, the team still walked away with silver medals, signifying their placement within their division. 

“We played great and ended up winning finals 1, but unfortunately had some issues in finals 2, resulting in a loss, and ended up losing the tiebreaker after a very competitive match,” Buchanan said.

Along the way the Ratchet Rockers also broke a world record scoring 903 points during a qualifiers match. The previous record was 885 points. 

“It was an impressive match and was amazing to watch. We were all disappointed that we didn’t make it to Einstein, but our team put up a tough fight and it was inspiring,” Dhruv Anand (9) said.

Team 1706 is currently ranked second in Missouri, below Team 1987, the Bronco Bots – a team from Lee’s Summit North High School. The Ratchet Rocker’s performance also earned them the rank of 27th in the world out of over 3,000 teams.

Gallery | 7 Photos

Emery Miyasaki

The robot, Mirage, shoots fuel across field, utilizing its unique double turret structure.