It is with great pride that I let you all know that the Bedford Express, Bedford High School's FIRST Robotics Team 1023, earned the state title this past weekend, at the Michigan State FIRST Robotics District Championship.  

102 top teams from across the state of Michigan attended the champsionship which was held at the DeltaPlex, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  After 204 qualifying matches that these teams played (12 matches each team), Bedford was the top seeded team with a qualifying average of 187.8 points per match.  The number 2 seed was The Flying Toasters with an average qualifying score of 172.7 points per match.  

The championship added a new level, octofinals, of eliminations so there were 16 alliances.  Bedford choose FRC Team 548, the Robostangs, from Northville - the team they selected and won the Bedford District with - to join the number 1 alliance.  This team was the 3rd seeded team, with a qualifying average of 172.6 points per match, and a lightning fast "can burglar" (A device to grab the center cans off the neutral zone setp.  The Recycling canisters act as multipliers when placed on states of totes, so the neutral zone ones are vital towards high score).  

47 teams later, Bedford got to pick their 3rd partner, FRC Team 1711, the Raptors, from Traverse City, MI.  The number 1 alliance was excited to get this pick, as it was the top team we were hoping wouldn't get picked by anyone else.  This team, averaging 142.3 points per match, was able to quickly right recycling containers that were flipped on their side.  Our alliance was also able to attach a "can burglar" on team 1711, allowing us to grab 3 of the 4 neutral zone recycling canisters.  

With our alliance set, the team had one hour for lunch, strategy, and modifications to bots.  We were unable to finish the can burglar on 1711, but their team worked diligently through the octofinals to get it ready for quarterfinals.  

We advanced from octofinals to quarter finals as the highest scoring alliance.  In quarter-finals, the top 8 teams faced off.  Our alliance successfully got the can burglar working on the 1711 robot.  We scored a Michigan High Elimination score of 260 in our first quarter final.  Not only is this a Michigan high, this is the second highest world score falling just under that 264 mark.    We again advanced as the highest averaging alliance of the 8 teams,and then the highest of the 4 semi finals.  

In the Finals match, we competed against the number 5 alliance.  We won the first match with a score of 238 to 220, and the second match with a score of 246 to 182. 

We are excited to have won the state championship and to be the #1 ranked team in Michigan again.  We won a bid to the world championship which will be held in Saint Louis, MO on April 22 - 25.  

See more photos here!  
Alliance Captain #1, Ankit Patel (Bedford) and Alliance 1 first pick from the robostangs during alliance selections!

Team Picture

Robot in action, with drive team member, Bradley Henry, feeding totes to the robot

We are excited to announce that Bedford High School's Bedford Express FIRST Robotics Team 1023 was the first seeded team after the qualifying matches.  The team selected the second seeded team, the Robostangs from Northville, Team 548, and team 4395, the ViBorgs, from Dundee High School to compete in the Elmination rounds.  This number 1 alliance carried the highest average score through Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Finals. During finals, they won the first match, despite mechanical failures in the Bedford robot which greatly slowed down their scoring, by a score of 142-141.  The team had 6 minutes to repair the broken spring and cut wire, and successfully repaired the robot for the final match.  During finals, the alliance won by a score of 236-150.