The MARtian is back!
The stage is set for 2024, and we are now entering into Week 2 of build season full STEAM ahead. But before CRESCENDO gets too amped up, let’s first take a quick look back at the 2023 season.
2023 Curtain Call
FMA was truly CHARGED UP last year, with teams playing thrilling matches all season long and achieving impressive results both on and off the field. Our district sent 26 teams to the FIRST World Championship in Houston last April, with the 23 teams that advanced through district-means all ranked within the Top 30 of FMA points, regardless of how they qualified. These 23 teams were joined by our three Hall of Fame teams who were each selected off of the Priority Waitlist: 103, 341, and 365.
Of the 26 FMA teams at the World Championship, the following 14 teams made it to the playoffs, with four FMA teams serving as alliance captains. Notably, 103, 3314, and 2539 were also the top three seeded teams at the FMA District Championship just two weeks prior, while 2607 had opted out of attending our DCMP due to the Easter weekend happenstance.
- Archimedes: 2607, 3142
- Daly: 2590, 3314
- Galileo: 103
- Hopper: 341, 1807
- Johnson: 1391, 1676
MilsteinMARstein: 316, 1923, 2539, 5895- Newton: 11
As the playoff brackets progressed, our FMA teams fought hard to stay in the game. Six FMA teams reached the finals of their division, but once the dust settled, only two remained. Congratulations to the two FMA teams that made it to Einstein - 2590 (Einstein Finalists) from Daly and 5895 from Milstein!
FMA teams were engaged off the field as well, with six teams bringing home judged awards from Houston:
- 1676 brought home the Johnson Division Engineering Inspiration Award, pre-qualifying them for the 2024 FIRST World Championship. They joined only five other teams in ever winning a World Championship Divisional Engineering Inspiration Award more than once.
- 203 won the Daly Division Imagery Award. While it was their first Imagery Award since 2010, it comes as no surprise as this team is a perennial team attributes award winner, and won one of the two FMA DCMP Engineering Inspiration Awards just two weeks prior.
- 3314 and 1923 were awarded the Autonomous Awards for the Daly and Milstein Divisions, respectively. Given that these two teams reached the finals at each of their pre-WCMP events in 2023, it’s only fitting that they were both honored for their incredibly impressive programming prowess on the world stage.
- 9015’s rookie season was far from questionable. They finished out a stellar first year by winning not only the Highest Rookie Seed Award, but the Curie Division Rookie All-Star Award as well! QE also earned these two awards at both the Robbinsville District Event and the FMA DCMP earlier in the season.
Of note, 9015 won a total of nine official awards in 2023, tying them for 3rd Most Award Wins in the world for the CHARGED UP season! 321, 1676, and 3314 each earned eight total awards in 2023, tying them for 4th most.
3… 2… 1…
A huge congratulations to FMA’s newest Hall of Fame team: 321, the RoboLancers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania! After 25 years competing in FIRST, 2023 was one of their best seasons yet. Over the years, all of FMA has looked on in awe as the RoboLancers have grown their program from the ground up, transforming many lives along the way. They earned the Chairman’s Award four times at FMA District Events, and went on to win the Chairman’s Award at the FMA District Championship each time. It’s been incredible to see how the Philadelphia Robotics Coalition has leveraged FIRST programs to make a profound impact on their community and in the FIRST community at large. Congratulations again to 321 for bringing the FIRST Championship Impact Award back to FMA for the first time since 2010!
Check out 321’s Impact Award submission below:
- Impact Award video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aBjvwdYF5o
- Impact Award presentation and Q&A video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7p5cOqcg_M
- They have also posted Impact Award resources to their website: FIRST Impact Award 2023 – RoboLancers
2024 Overture
CRESCENDO’s overture is now in full swing, and the 2024 FMA season will certainly be a loud one. FMA is proudly fielding 127 teams this year, the same number as last season. While the curtain has seemingly closed on 1812, 1989, 2070, 2600, 6943, and 9014, FMA’s three new rookie teams 9416, 9424, and 9439 are poised to make their inaugural debut! Additionally, 427 and 428 are new veteran sister teams respectively sourced from 321 and 75, and 4637 is back for their second act after a brief intermission last year.
Also like last season, FMA will again be hosting eight district events in 2024, culminating in the annual 60-team District Championship at Lehigh University. Two district events will be held each weekend during Weeks 1 through 4, before a break due to Easter falling during Week 5. The FMA DCMP will be held Week 6, the first week of April, again allowing advancing teams just 10 days before the start of the 2024 World Championship.
It should be noted that FMA is allotted only 22 World Championship advancement slots for 2024, down one from 2023. As usual, these 22 WCMP slots will be distributed to the three winners of the FMA DCMP, the two FMA DCMP Impact Award winners, the two FMA DCMP Engineering Inspiration Award winners, the one FMA DCMP Rookie All-Star Award winner, and then the next 14 highest teams in terms of FMA district points. Further, 2023 WCMP Impact Award winner 321 and 2023 WCMP Johnson Division Engineering Inspiration Award winner 1676 are automatically pre-qualified for the 2024 FIRST World Championship, and will not subtract from FMA’s 22 WCMP advancement slots under any circumstances. Hall of Fame teams 103, 341, and 365 are not automatically pre-qualified, but will again be eligible for the WCMP Priority Waitlist and will not subtract from FMA’s 22 WCMP advancement slots if they are awarded a WCMP slot through the Priority Waitlist.
Since heat maps were hotter than a TikTok trend on Chief Delphi last month, here’s a snapshot of FMA’s 2024 season. CRESCENDO will see 87 FMA teams competing from NJ, 39 FMA teams competing from PA, and 365 holding strong as our sole representative from Delaware. Hey MOE, isn’t it about time that we turn the “first” state into the “FIRST” state??
Coda
Whether you’re watching 11’s weekly MORT in Minutes or subscribed to 555’s Build Thread, be sure to follow along as FMA teams harmonize throughout the masterpiece that will be 2024. The MARtian is back for an encore and will proudly serve as your maestro as this exciting season reaches its CRESCENDO!
