Michigan State Championship 2009

[Enigma's puzzle]

Originally Posted by Karthik

I'm not sure IRI could even top what we saw this past weekend in Ypsilanti. For the first time in my 12 year FIRST careers, I saw an event where every single robot was competent and capable of playing this game at a high level. There are many pros and cons to the Michigan district model, but if the end goal was to produce a high level, ready for TV robotics competition, then it definitely succeeded. I loved the intensity that was produced by this qualification only based on robot merit setup. All 64 teams had earned their way into this field, and they were mostly all playing for a berth in Atlanta. This event was a true "Championship", and I can only hope that the FIRST World Championship moves in this direction in the future.

Karthik, they are awarded points based on both Awards and field play, but the actual performance of the robot is a larger factor in the determining of points than the awards. For example, an industrial design, or quality award is only worth 5 points or two wins and a tie.

I think this defiantly rivals the championships in competitiveness because you aren't getting Chairman's, Rookie all stars(who may or may not be championship caliber), and Engineering inspiration award winners, who may or may not be actual great robots. So at the least the Qualifications are rivaling of the championship qualifications.