Are you curious about what inspires innovation and collaboration? For Trial and Error Robotics, it’s competing in the Mississippi State FIRST Tech Challenge Competition. Our team packed up and headed to Ole Miss in Oxford, MS, to compete with twenty-three other robotics teams from all over Mississippi for the chance to go to the FIRST Championship in Houston, Texas. The two-day FTC competition made for an exciting and exhausting trip.

Our first day at State was exhilarating! We spent our time going to judging interviews, setting up our team booth, and getting our robot, “Gobbler 2.0,” through inspection. And Gobbler passed! Afterward, all the teams hung out and chatted while we waited for the opening ceremony. During the ceremony, we saw all the videos the teams had submitted for the Promote and Compass awards. The Promote award is given to the team that best describes “what we enjoy most about FIRST Tech Challenge,” while the Compass award is given to the team mentor or coach that best captures the essence of FIRST. It was awesome to see how the teams created their videos and what they were about.

On day two, Trial and Error headed to the Tad Smith Coliseum for the main competition. The Coliseum was filled with team booths that were all very unique. There were lots of lights and balloons, and one team even had a racing game. General Mayhem was our team’s main attraction. He wandered around, spoke with the other teams, and caused mayhem wherever he went.

The competition was fierce, and everyone tried their best. Our team was doing good at the start, but as time went on, the competition got more intense. Although our team and Gobbler did well, we didn’t make it to the semi-finals.

Our team cheered as “DeSoto Technix” was announced as the new Mississippi State FIRST Tech Challenge champion. We were surprised to learn that we came in second place for the Think Award, which is given to teams that show creative thinking in their bot’s design and build process, but we were even more shocked to hear the announcer call our name again. Trial and Error had won first place for our bot’s unique “mailbox” design used to place game pieces on the field. This award would be our team’s first State competition trophy.

Our team is proud of what we accomplished this season, and we would like to thank our sponsors for their support. We are grateful for the opportunity to compete alongside so many awesome teams from around Mississippi. Trial and Error is already looking forward to next season.