On October 19th, we attended the Duel on the Delaware competition in Carney’s Point, New Jersey, hosted by Team 365, the Miracle Workerz, and Team 316, the Lunatecs. Thirty-three capable teams from several states faced off in fierce, highly combative matches at this annual event, beloved by members of our own team.
Despite challenging game-play from other skilled teams, Miss Daisy fought hard and placed 7th in qualifying rounds. For the finals, we teamed up with two other excellent teams, Team 1089, Mercury, from Hightstown, New Jersey, and Team 1640, Sab-BOT-age, from Downingtown, Pennsylvania. After sweeping through the quarter- and semi-finals, our powerful alliance conquered the finals in an astounding mere two matches. It was the second year in a row that Miss Daisy won Duel on the Delaware, a point of pride for coaches and students alike.
While it was difficult to tear attention away from the competition itself, Duel on the Delaware was an opportunity for rookies to gain some first-hand experience with pit crew, robot driving, and scouting, and to get a taste of what robotics competitions are like. A great time was had by all and Miss Daisy looks forward to attending in 2014!
Miss Daisy hosted our fourteenth annual Ramp Riot competition on November 2nd. Team members, coaches, parents, and FIRST® volunteers staff the event from the early hours of the morning to late in the evening, making sure visitors had the quintessential Ramp Riot experience. Consequently, Ramp Riot has been known for being fun, well-organized, and a true embodiment of the FIRST® spirit. Teams from all over the East Coast scrambled to sign up months before the event, but only a lucky thirty-six battled to win the title.
This year, our media team worked extensively to perfect new play-by-play coverage of every match and showed edited recap videos featuring footage from that very day, bringing a new angle to the excitement of the event. Although running Ramp Riot put a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Miss Daisy members, our pit crew, coaches, and drive team put as much effort into our own matches as they do at any other competition. Thanks to them, Miss Daisy did well in the qualifying matches and went on to alliance selection.
Our alliance partners in the finals were Team 304, the Robo Griffins and Team 4637, the BambieBotz, both from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a team we teamed up with numerous times in the 2013 season, Team 225, Techfire, from York, Pennsylvania. Daisy ended up coming out on top for the third time in Ramp Riot history. Also on that day was a scrimmage event for FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC®), and Wissahickon’s very own team came in 3rd place!
Besides just watching the matches, visitors could learn more about Miss Daisy, Ramp Riot, and FIRST® from the information table, snack on a variety of foods, watch the FTC® scrimmage, get their face painted, and even drive a robot! The Phillie Phanatic visited Ramp Riot as well, and, to the excitement of all Phillies fans, ran and danced around the field. In addition, there was a very successful food drive, benefitting the Mattie Dixon Community Cupboard in Ambler, Pennsylvania.
The hard work of everyone involved helped make this year’s Ramp Riot a wonderful event!
