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Kettering Competition, 9/23/ 2006 - Rainy days bring May flowers. Except when it is autumn, and the subject is robots. Team #1720, Muncie's FIRST Robotics Team, The PhyXTGears, went competing and brought home flowers - we WON!

Traveling through rainy autumn weather, thirteen students and mentors of the Muncie Delaware FIRST Robotics team drove to Flint, Michigan, on 9/23 for the 6th annual Kettering Kickoff at Kettering University, for an off-season competition. Attendees included 31 other teams from Michigan, the midwest, and as far away as Rochester, NY.

After five rounds of play, Team #1720 was ranked 3rd out of 31 teams. The top eight teams designate a Team Captain to select their alliance partners for the final rounds. The final 8 alliances play single-elimination 2 out of 3 game matches to determine the winning alliance, known as "The Top Dog Award."

Team #1720 requested the assistance of teams #703 (Team Phoenix, of Saginaw, MI) and #226 (Hammerheads, of Troy, MI). These robots complemented our robot's strengths, and we reached the finals with high spirits! Unfortunately, after winning the semi-final match, a rear wheel collapsed (a "major mechanical", in robotics lingo). We used our allowable 5-minute time-out to attempt repair, but ran out of time. Selected by previous team ranking, Team #1188, (Oaktown Crewz, of Royal Oak, MI), substituted in our place. The revised alliance won the match, AND the final round, to win the competition. To our surprise, we were included in the four team alliance that won the overall competition! What a sweet reward for all our hard work, tinkering and trials! Team #1720 also won the Top-Scoring Alliance Award, with Teams #494 (The Martians, of Goodrich. MI), and #703 (Team Phoenix, of Saginaw, MI), with an score of 106 points. Not bad for a Rookie team! Photos here ; Kettering web story here