Blog

Team DAVE was thrilled to compete at the inaugural Niagara College District Event this past weekend. From March 8th to 9th, DAVE went up against many of the top teams in the world, fighting for the chance to become winners of the event.

DAVE started the day bright and early, arriving at the venue at 7:00 AM to secure seats for our scouts. We started qualification matches with a loss, but rebounded quickly, winning our next eight qualification matches. DAVE finished the day with a win-loss record of 8-1 and ranked 2nd, earning the event high score in Qualification Match 16 with a score of 226.

On the second day, we won our remaining three qualification matches, securing our place as 2nd seed out of 27 teams. We were selected by Team 2056: OP Robotics to be on Alliance 1, and we picked Team 7623: Morebotics to round off our alliance.

Our alliance went undefeated in playoffs, consistently scoring over 200 points in each elimination match. In many matches, we filled the reef from levels L2 upwards, and scored multiple algae in the net. After a hard-fought battle by Alliance 3, we emerged winners of the Niagara College District Event. We were also recognized for our creativity and innovation in robot design and strategy, winning the Creativity Award sponsored by Rockwell Automation. We were also ranked within the top 5 teams in the world after the event, holding the #2 Auto EPA spot on Statbotics.

Thank you so much to all of our parents, teachers, mentors, and supporters for helping us achieve this win in our first event of the season. Shout out to our Corporate Sponsors: Benmur Precision Tooling, BR Group Services, BRH Plumbing, First General, Gene Haas Foundation, Melitron, Mitchell Plastics, Quantum Valley Investments, St. David CSS, Westmount Signs & Printing, Woodhouse Group, and WWFIRST for helping us secure our tenth win in team history!

Next up, we will be competing at the University of Waterloo District Event from March 20th to 22nd held in the Physical Activities Complex. We look forward competing against other teams at our local event!

Team DAVE was thrilled to compete at the first annual All-Star Alliance Invitational from August 9th – 11th at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. We partnered with 118 Robonauts and 2468 Team Appreciate to form the “Texas, Eh?” alliance, going up against eight other alliances for the chance to become the first alliance to win the event.

We left Waterloo at 8:30 AM, travelling by bus to Michigan. We arrived at Kettering University at 1:30 PM and started loading in. DAVE members toured the university campus, receiving free Kettering t-shirts. As our full alliance was not able to arrive by 6:00 PM, we were unable to practice leading into the first day of competition.

DAVE arrived at the venue by 7:15 AM to get the best seats for our scouts. We were able to practice with the Robonauts and Team Appreciate before qualification matches started at 11:00 AM. Our alliance started the day with a win, ending the day with a record of 6-4 and ranked the #4 alliance.

On the final day, the “Texas, Eh” alliance played in six qualification matches, replaying one later in the day. We ended qualification matches with a record of 8-8 and were ranked the #6 alliance. DAVE headed off to lunch and prepared for the start of elimination matches. Kudos to the #9 alliance for achieving the first triple climb!

“Texas, Eh?” went up against the Mexican Power Alliance to start elimination matches, losing the first match of eliminations. DAVE and our alliance partners rebounded, winning the next 2 matches and moving on to quarterfinals. In total, we played six matches against the Mexican Power alliance, almost a third of our matches!

Next, our alliance went up against the #2 ranked alliance, “GrayForce!?” We put up a hard fight but unfortunately lost both matches, getting eliminated from the competition. Congratulations to the winning alliance of RBG: 27 Team Rush, 33 Killer Bees, and 4362 CSPA Gems for winning the inaugural All-Star Alliance.

Although the “Texas, Eh?” alliance was unable to win the event, DAVE had a blast competing with the Robonauts and Team Appreciate. Thank you to all of our supporters for cheering us on at Kettering University! We hope to see you at STEMley, an off-season event hosted by FRC Teams 4039 – Makeshift Robotics and 5406 – Celt-X, in October where DAVE will compete for the last time in CRESCENDO.

Wow, DAVE was thrilled to compete at the FIRST World Championship in Houston, TX last week! At the competition, DAVE played against teams across the world on the Galileo Field for three days, showing off our Canadian spirit.

The team left for Houston the morning of April 14th, travelling by bus for two and a half days. During our travels, DAVE students competed against each other as the Red Alliance and Blue Alliance, playing various games to earn points for team.

DAVE arrived in Houston, TX in the afternoon of April 16th, visiting the Robonauts’ Open House later that evening. The next day, the team visited the Space Center, learning more about NASA and outer space. In the afternoon, DAVE went to the George R. Brown Convention Center and viewed the Innovation Faire, learning about various companies and institutions.

On the first day of the event, DAVE arrived at 5:45 AM, playing Crazy 8 and Go Fish to pass time. We scouted matches with fellow Canadian teams 1241, 1285, and 4907 during the day. DAVE played in five qualification matches, starting the day with a loss then winning the rest of our matches. We ended the day with a record of 4-1 and were ranked 8th out of 75 teams.

On the second day of the event, DAVE arrived early and played Uno Flip while waiting in line. The team played in five qualification matches, winning 4 and losing 1. We were ranked 7th out of 75 teams by the end of qualification matches and had a record of 8-2.

DAVE started the final day by participating in the Galileo Field alliance selection. We were picked by FRC Team 3467 – Windham Windup to be on Alliance 3 and were joined by our partners FRC Team 461 – Westside Boiler Invasion and FRC Team 1296 – Full Metal Jackets.

We won our first elimination match against Alliance 6, moving up in the upper bracket. We went up against Alliance 2 next and lost the elimination match, moving down into the lower bracket. DAVE and our alliance fought a hard battle in Match 10 but lost to Alliance 5, getting eliminated from the competition.

DAVE spent the rest of the day cheering on other teams throughout the competition, rooting for the three Canadian teams – 2056, 4476, and 7558 – to win the competition. Unfortunately, the Canadian teams were unable to win Einstein, but we had a blast watching all of the matches! Congratulations to 1690, 4522, 9432, and 321 for becoming World Champions, and to 2486 for winning the Impact Award and joining the Hall of Fame!

The team travelled back for two more days, singing Karaoke songs and playing games on the Nintendo Switch such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Smash Bros Ultimate along the way. DAVE is currently ranked #2 in Canada, and #39 in the world.

Thank you to all of our parents, mentors, sponsors, teachers, and supporters for cheering on the team and aiding us throughout the season. We greatly appreciate all the hard work you put into the team! The CRESCENDO season has officially ended, but DAVE will continue to post updates during the offseason. We will be competing in the next FRC season, REEFSCAPE, with Kickoff on January 4th, 2025.

Team DAVE was overjoyed to compete at the Ontario District Provincial Championship in the Science Division last week! At this event, we competed against 50 teams from Ontario, including fellow WWFIRST teams.

On the first day, DAVE played in six qualification matches and won all of them, ending the day ranked 2nd. A highlight of the day was when we played with FRC Teams 2056 and 2702 to get a world high score of 155 (150 without penalties), which has since been broken.

The next day, DAVE arrived at 7 AM and played Uno to pass the time before entering the venue. We played in six more qualification matches, winning 4 and losing 2. We were ranked 5th out of 50 teams by the end of the day and had a win-loss record of 10-2.

We started the final day with Opening Ceremonies and quickly moved into Alliance Selection where we selected FRC Team 1114 – Simbotics and FRC Team 2702 – Rebels to be in our alliance with us. We won our first elimination match, moving up in the upper bracket. Next, we went up against Alliance 1 in Match 7 and lost, moving down into the lower bracket. DAVE and our alliance fought a hard battle in Match 9 but lost to Alliance 6. We spent the rest of the day cheering on other teams in the stands.

Congratulations to FRC Teams 2056, 4678, and 9785 for winning both the Science Division and the Ontario District Provincial Championship!

DAVE qualified for the FIRST World Championship and will be competing from April 17th to 20th at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX. We are looking forward to going up against the best teams in the world for the chance to become World Champions!

Team DAVE was thrilled to compete at the University of Waterloo District Event in our hometown of Waterloo last week. At the event, we played alongside WWFIRST teams during qualification and elimination matches.

On the first day, DAVE played in practice matches before Opening Ceremonies, later competing in eight qualification matches throughout the day. Students on DAVE presented the Impact Award in the morning, but we were unable to win. Although we started by losing our first qualification match, we rebounded and won the next seven matches, ending the day with a win-loss record of 7-1.

DAVE ended qualification matches the next day ranked 1st with a win-loss record of 10-2. We picked FRC Team 4678: CyberCavs (a fellow WWFIRST team), and FRC Team 6875: Amazon Warriors – Build a Dream Robotics to be in our alliance. Our alliance was undefeated during elimination matches, but we lost the Finals matches to Alliance 2. Congratulations to FRC Teams 4476, 5024 and 9659 for winning the Waterloo District Event!

DAVE was recognized for our achievements in the community and as a successful robotics team, winning the Judges Award for the first time. Thank you to all of our supporters who visited us at the event and cheered on the team!

We will be competing at the Ontario District Provincial Championship from April 4-6 at the International Centre in Mississauga. DAVE looks forward to competing against the top teams in Ontario for the chance to become District Champions!