Sault robotics team wins silver in Waterloo

The following is the continuation of a series of dispatches from Sault Ste. Marie Robotics Team 1535's adventures at the University of Waterloo.

Click here to return to the beginning of this coverage.

************************* Saturday morning at University of Waterloo

WATERLOO, ON - March 22 - Saturday morning at the University of Waterloo had the Sault's "Knights of Alloy Robotics" team wrapping up the last three matches of their round robin tournament.

The opening match saw the team in a fight against a strong alliance that featured the tournament leading team 1114 robot (that has dominated the competition with a very effective machine).

However, this match proved that anything could happen and the favoured robot blew an electrical relay in the opening seconds.

Our alliance group, with some decent performers, pulled out a stunning upset and gave us win number five.

The second match of the day was filled with penalties, including our own robot, who made a joystick malfunction in the opening seconds and left us with a crippled arm.

The arm swung into the penalty zone and our 10-point penalty, added to two others from our alliance partners handed us a 30-0 defeat.

In the final match of our round robin series, we drew two strong partners and had our own robot running fast and smooth.

We combined to total 100 points and an easy defeat.

We entered the playoff draft with a six win-five loss record and a solid 16th place overall ranking going into the playoff draft.

In this competition, the top eight teams become team captains and pick their alliance partners.

Our team sat watching the playoff draft, hoping to be picked by one of the captains (if not, the day would be finished for the team).

Numbers were called and we finished the first round with no successes.

The final draft round and teams were called out once again.

Sadly, The Knights of Alloy were not chosen, but take the top alternate position and will be the first called should any other robots become damaged and cannot finish.

************************* Eleventh hour turnaround - Saturday, March 22. 3:40 p.m.

In a stunning 11th-hour development at University of Waterloo, Team 1535 is in the finals!

In the second last semifinal match, team 2013 from Staynor Ontario, erupted in a cloud of smoke and caught fire on the field.

When the cloud had cleared, 2013's robot sat destroyed and unable to continue and the 1st alternate, the Sault's Sir Jimmy was called in to replace it.

The semi final match continued and our new alliance pulled out a stunning upset, winning a close 34-32 score and The Knights of Alloy are now in the finals with a guaranteed silver medal to come.

Further updates to follow.

************************* Final update from robotics in Waterloo< - 5:30 p.m.

The 2008 Waterloo Regional is now over and the Sault's Knights of Alloy is bringing home the silver medal and also earned the Regional Spirit Award.

The final 2-out-of-3 format had us pitted against the favorite alliance team that included team 1114 from St. Catharines, a team that has already won two Regional Gold medals this year and was going for a third.

In our opening game, Team 1535's joystick controller had an electrical fault and left us with almost no control.

The match was an easy win for the opposing team.

Problem fixed during the intermission, we went back on the field, hoping for a win to force a third game.

It was not to be as the superior opponents had speed and skill and won the second and final game with relative ease.

We come home with a silver medal but were unable to secure an invitation to Atlanta for this season, so our season is now done.

The team will resume operations in the fall with the start of the 2008-09 season next year.

Match results can be found at the FIRST website.

Team 1535's tournament standings can be found at this location.

Streaming Video for tomorrow’s matches can be found here.

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