Norsemen Robotics, made up of students from Suttons Bay, Lake Leelanau St. Mary, and Northport, joined 39 other teams over the weekend at Traverse City West High School to compete in their second district event. The competition consisted of 78 randomized qualification matches, during which each team played as an “alliance” with two others and against three opposing robots. These qualification matches then determined each team’s rank out of the 40 teams present.
It’s the luck of the draw when it comes to qualification match alliance partners; during some matches, the Norsemen played alongside teams with similar scoring skills, while in others, alliance partners only exhibited defensive capabilities. Throughout the competition, the Norsemen stood out as a strong offensive contributor; this was exemplified in their Offensive Power Ranking (OPR), or the average of how many points each team individually contributes during a match. The Norsemen ended the weekend with an OPR of 30.78, the second highest at the competition.
After competing in 12 randomized qualification matches, the Norsemen ranked 12th. They were the first pick of the 4th-seeded alliance, and played alongside the O-Bots of Ludington and the Dragoneers of Kalkaska in the playoff matches. The alliance was eliminated after three playoff rounds. The reliability of the robot and the team were recognized by the panel of judges that spent the weekend interviewing students on many different aspects of the program, including robot design, build process, and team dynamics. The Norsemen were the recipient of the Quality Award, which is given to a team whose robot demonstrates robustness and reliability in both concept and fabrication.
