Kinetic Knights bring home gold medals from robotics competition in Oshawa

The Kinetic Knights (FRC Team 781) of Kincardine brought home gold medals from the Ontario District robotics competition held at Durham College in Oshawa on the weekend.

This year’s “Rebuilt” challenge was part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program and drew 28 teams to compete in a game that saw robots shooting fuel (yellow balls) into hubs in the centre of the field and then climbing a tower at the end.

Team 781 left Kincardine, Friday morning, and battled blowing and drifting snow to arrive at the event in Oshawa, loading in its robot for the competition.

Following opening ceremonies, Saturday morning, with David Ellis, president of FIRST Canada, the qualifying matches were under way. Each robot worked in an alliance with two other robots to complete the challenge in a round-robin fashion.

The Kinetic Knights had some difficulty with their robot as the wheels literally fell off in the first match, and they were unable to compete in the second match. However, things finally began to gel as they took to the field througout the day.



The FRC Team 781 robot competes in qualifying matches at the Ontario District robotics competition at Durham College in Oshawa, Saturday

Qualifying matches continued through Sunday morning, and once the dust had settled, Team 781 was in 18th place.

During alliance selection, Team 781 was chosen as the second pick, by the top alliance, Team 4946, The Alpha Dogs of Bolton, and Team 1241, Theory6, of Mississauga, and headed into the double-elimination rounds.

Alliance 1 went undefeated through the playoffs until its first match against Alliance 2 which it lost, 371-325. This moved Alliance 1 to the lower bracket where it handily defeated Alliance 3, before facing Alliance 2 again for the overall championship in a best-of-three series.

The Kinetic Knights played effective defence in the next two games, while their teammates pounded the fuel into the hubs, taking two consecutive wins and the championship, by a score of 310-269 and a close, riveting final score of 297-275.



FRC Team 781 competes in elimination rounds with Alliance 1 at the Ontario District robotics event, Sunday, at Durham College in Oshawa

The team’s next district competition is April 9-11 in Windsor, followed by the Ontario championships, April 16-19 in Niagara Falls; and the world championships, April 29 to May 2, in Houston, Texas.

Team 781 greatly appreciates its mentors, supporters and sponsors, particularly its major sponsors: Bruce Power, the Nuclear Innovation Institute, NPX, Kincardine Legion, McKechnie Pharmacy and Enbridge.

The Kinetic Knights Robotics Team – FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 781 - is a community youth robotics organization, open to young people, ages 13-19, in Kincardine. Currently, there are about 15 members and eight mentors who focus on various aspects of team-building, as well as constructing a robot to enter in FIRST.

For more information, contact lead mentor, David Dadson, at dcdadson@live.com.