Hollis-Brookline High School Robotics Team Bring Home Silver at the FIRST Robotics North Shore District!

The Force Team, a FRC Team located at Hollis-Brookline Middle School, recently attended the North Shore District Competition on March 17th through March 20th.

In the 2019 FIRST® Destination: Deep Space Competition, alliances of three on three teams aim to score more points in a two-and-a-half minute match than their opposing alliance. Points can be earned in a variety of ways including placing orange balls known as cargo and hatch panels, yellow discs, onto specific field elements. The alliance can earn additional points by filling up rockets on their side of the field. Any robots that climb back onto the starting region, the Habitat Zone or HAB, will also score points. During the first thirty seconds of each match, known as the Sandstorm period, the robots’ drivers cannot see their robot. They must either pre-program their robot to be autonomous or install camera systems to drive by a vision stream. The winners of the match are determined by the alliance that earned the largest amount of points.

At the competition, The Force Team competed alongside thirty-seven other New England FRC Teams. Our drive team, the group that controls the robot during matches, utilized a defensive strategy after scoring in Sandstorm and a finishing HAB climb. This method blocks opposing robots from scoring points, while our alliances partners place hatch panels and cargo onto our rockets and cargo ship while maximizing HAB climbs at the end.

The Force Team placed fourteenth in the North Shore District, was on the 7th seeded alliance, and made it through finals where they ended with silver. The team also earned the Industrial Safety Award sponsored by Underwriters Laboratories for the fifth consecutive year.

From March 30rd to the 31st, we will be competing in the University of New Hampshire District Event at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire. This event, along with the North Shore District Competition, will determine our eligibility to compete in the New England District Championship Competition. Stay up to do with The Force Team by checking out our social media!

Submitted by Megan Strecker, member of Hollis-Brookline High School FIRST®? Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 1073, The Force Team