2018 Create U.S. Open Robotics Champions
The Ridgedale 6302Y Vex Robotics team is proud to be Tournament Champions at the 2018 Create U.S. Open Robotics Championship. This past April 4th, 5th, and 6th the Ridgedale Rocket Robotics team of Jaylin Tyler, Madison Britton, and Mitchill Reasoner traveled to Omaha Nebraska to compete. The Create U.S. Open Robotics Championship had 180 teams in the High School Division. The pits at the U.S. Open had State Champions Banners hanging from numerous states throughout the nation and China.
Jaylin Tyler, Madison Britton, and Mitchill Reasoner are Ridgedale Seniors. Jaylin Tyler attends the RAMTEC Center at Tri-Rivers and competes in the Vex League for Ridgedale. Jaylin Tyler hold numerous Industrial Credentials in Safety and robotics which he has earned at Tri-Rivers. Jaylin Tyler is already employed in a company creating 3D printed parts. Madison Britton is involved in the Ridgedale Band and Honor Society. Mitchill Reasoner is involved in Honor Society and playing baseball for Ridgedale.
Ridgedale 6302Y struggled at the Create U.S. Open for 2 days in the Qualifying Rounds. Ridgedale 6302Y finished 5 and 5 after qualifiers. This record created a ranking of 31st out of 91 teams in the Black Division of the High School contest. Ridgedale 6302Y was concerned about even being picked for the Championship Tournament. The 1st and 2nd ranked teams were from Nebraska and Wisconsin. They were looking for a 3rd team to join the #1 seeded alliance in the tournament. They watched Ridgedale 6302Y and felt that 6302Y was a very strong competitive team and, that the qualifying record of 5 and 5 reflected some very difficult matches with poor allies. Although Ridgedale was ranked 31st out of 91 the 1st and 2nd ranked teams were pleased with Ridgedale as an alliance partner. Ridgedale 6302Y performed very well throughout the tournament. The #1 seeded alliance won the Black Division Tournament and then beat the winners of the Red Division Tournament 2/3 Matches in the final finals.
Jaylin Tyler and Mitchill Reasoner have competed together for 5 years in the Vex League and 2 years at The National Robotics Challenge in Marion. Tyler and Reasoner won the Honda Innovation Award at The NRC in 9th grade. Tyler and Reasoner qualified for the Vex Ohio State Championship for 4 years. Tyler and Mitchill were Ohio State Champions in Robot Skills in 2016 and 2017 and traveled to Vex Worlds.’
Madison Britton has competed in the Vex league for 5 years. Madison’s teams qualified for the Ohio State Championship in 2015. This year Madison joined 6302Y and has documented the design process in the Engineering Notebook. Madison has helped and supported 6302Y as it won 3 local events and competed at the 2018 Ohio State Championship.
“Silent Partner” Ridgedale Senior Liam Parsell helped 6302Y to write some fascinating code to control the robot. Liam Parsell is involved in the Ridgedale Band and Honor Society. Liam wrote code for the robot to “self level” the 2 sided lifting mechanism. If either side fell behind then the other side would slow down till it was even. A gyroscope was used to compare the 2 sides. A gyro was also used to keep the robot headed in the correct direction during autonomous mode. Liam wrote very difficult code that allowed the robot to “self-correct” in the right direction” if someone bumped it during autonomous mode
After all this time together, on Saturday these friends were to compete in their last robot contest together. It was thrilling that this last match made them Tournament Champions at the Create U.S. Open Robotics Championship.