The 2011-2012 season has certainly been an exhilarating one.
NZ held the Robot World Cup battle here in October where Free Range teams managed to take 1st and 2nd place.
The scrimmages throughout the year have helped all the NZ teams hone their skills, develop and extend engineering ideas, and raise the bar in the competition. We are grateful to the Kiwibots, Massey and Auckland Uni teams for all the time and energy you invest into the program!
The Nationals competition this year was fierce as always. There were many strong contenders with solidly designed robots which made for robust matches. Our team had 3 robots entered in the Nationals competition, and all three made it through to the quarterfinal playoff rounds. We all know the stomach churning anxiety of those moments in battle where everything can change in a second, and the agony or joy as the points are added. This competition had plenty of adrenaline moments.
Free Range Team 2921 finished 2nd place in the qualifications round, winning all their matches and missing 1st place by just one ranking point!
Free Range Team 2921, in an alliance with aMax and Avondale, made it through to the finals and in a nail biting “best of 3” battle that included the first game ending in a tie, we were defeated by the Lynfield College alliance trio, coming in at 2nd place.
We have always taken the responsibility of representing NZ very seriously – knowing full well that many of our teams here in NZ would shine in the USA based World Champs competition. The high standard among our peers here in NZ is something we are really proud to be part of.
Lynfield College has always been a force to reckon with and we are delighted to see them go on to represent NZ in the World Championships in LA next month. Congratulations to you all and we know you will carry the NZ Tournament Champions torch with honour. Good luck and congratulations to Pinehurst who also have qualified for the World Championship competition.