The MadTown Robotics team from Madera High School competed alongside teams from California, Idaho, and Chinese Taipei in the first Robotics Competition Central Valley Regional over the weekend and came away with the championship, earning the Madera team a place in the World Championships next month in Houston.
MadTown reached the finals at the competition for the past five years, winning the championship four of those years. They entered the competition as a strong favorite again at the Fresno Convention Center.
This year, they are playing the 2019 game, Destination: Deep Space, presented by the Boeing Co. During the first 15 seconds of each match, shutters are lowered to prevent drivers from seeing the field. For this period, each team can either choose to use an autonomous routine or manually drive the robot using a vision system.
After the first 15 seconds, drivers take control of their robots. Teams load cargo (rubber playground balls) into two rockets and a cargo ship while placing hatch panels (flat plastic disks) on both to earn points. At the end of the game, robots attempt to climb a series of raised platforms to earn extra points.
MadTown Robotics had a successful 2018 season. Along with winning the Central Valley Regional, they also won the Sacramento Regional and the Roebling Division at the Houston Championship. In the latter competition, they reached the Einstein Championship round, where their alliance finished fourth. They also won their own off-season competition, the MadTown Throwdown.