The good news was they tied for first place with Rochester Institute of Technology in best presentation honors and took fifth place in cost analysis. They also took home a second place Lear Award for design. The bad news was they didn't finish the endurance run, the final event worth 40 percent of the total score, due to a mechanical glitch. They placed 34th among the 108 college teams participating. Each 130-pound robot is built from the same box of parts, yet the machines display an incredible variety in design and strategy.
Admission is free.
Well, the trials are over and we didn't make it. It was a heck of a ride and we were the boat that everyone was talking about. That was F. David Ploss '70, who coached Eric Wilhelm '99 and Matt Beaton '00 as they made a valiant try for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team last week. They went on to take second in their heat during the semifinals, giving them a slot in the finals. Three teams would survive that race to move on.