Apart from using THOR, Thundering Herd of Robots, as training for newer students, we were also able to use the off-season competition we helped start in 2013 to test how our driver candidates performed under pressure and how well different combinations of drive teams functioned.

With a few practice matches under our belts to calibrate Grunthos, our 2018 robot, to the field and give a few of our drivers practice, the qualification matches started. Despite a slightly rough start, including having our encoders pop out of place for at least the third time again this season and our elevator getting stuck at the top for most of a match, we managed to recover from our rough start and began to climb the rankings, finishing strong in both robot performance and driver candidates! The latter was especially surprising because some of the drivers we were testing had never even touched Grunthos’ controls before THOR. At the end of qualification matches, we were able to assess the drive team combination that would work best and ended the matches ranked 1st!

Soon after, it was time for Alliance Selections, and we ended up picking an alliance that consisted of Team 5190, Green Hope Falcons, and Team 4829, Titanium Tigers! After a quick lunch and strategy meeting with our alliance partners, playoff matches began. It took a couple of matches, but our alliance eventually established a rhythm and at the end of playoffs, we had won THOR for the first time in our team history!