2018 Concord Market Days
On June 23, 2018, Morpheus participated in a robot demonstration at the 2018 Concord, NH, Market Days in coordination with Team 1721 (Tidal Force). Since it was raining fairly hard, we were glad that there was a tent covering the stage where we would be presenting our robot. Our teams set up a mock scale and a mock climbing bar. We took turns placing cubes in the scale and climbing the rung. While we were demonstrating our robot, our members talked to the community members about FIRST and our teams. Despite the rain, a large crowd was inspired by our robots. We had a great time at Market Days with Team 1721 and hope to return next year.
2018 Mayhem in Merrimack
On June 9, 2018, Morpheus participated in the 2018 Mayhem in Merrimack in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Throughout the qualifications, we helped several teams with technical issues. Morpheus members assisted Team 5962 with assembling a Versaplanetary gearbox and Team 6762 with connecting to their radio. In our qualification matches, we were able to earn the auto ranking point every match and control the scale. Additionally, in several matches, we were able to get four ranking points. We ended up winning all five of our qualification matches. At the end of qualifications, we were excited to find that we were rank 1 with a ranking score of 3.20! During alliance selection, we selected our friends and 2017 District Championship Finalist alliance partner Team 1519 (Mechanical Mayhem) to join Alliance 1. On the second round, we picked up Team 5962 (PerSEVERE). Going into the double eliminations bracket, we were fairly confident in our alliance's ability to perform. We won the first match handily but had some unexpected elevator issues. It turns out that two of our four elevator motors had burned out! We quickly replaced them before our match against Alliance 4. Unfortunately, in that match, another motor burned out, causing our elevator to have more issues, which caused us to lose that match. Because we had lost a match, we were now playing in the "loser bracket," and our next match would once again be against Alliance 8. Luckily, we were able to replace the broken motor before the next match. In that match, our elevator was working fine, but about halfway through the match, the conduit carrying wires for our intake accidentally got stuck in another team's intake and pulled several wires out. Although the wires had gotten pulled out and our climber hook fell off, we were able to win the match. Before our match against Alliance 3, we were able to fix most of the wires. In our match against Alliance 3, our hook fell off again and we were not able to maintain control of the scale, so we ended up losing that match. Because of the nature of a double eliminations bracket, we had just been eliminated. It was wonderful to work with Team 1519 and Team 5962, and we hope to work with them again in the future. During the award ceremony, we were thrilled to receive the Gracious Professionalism Award for the assistance that we gave to several teams! We would like to congratulate Team 319 (Big Bad Bob), Team 131 (CHAOS), and Team 885 (The Green Team) on wining the event! Despite having several mechanical problems, Morpheus had a great time at Mayhem in Merrimack.
2018 Concord TV Interview
On June 5, 2018, Concord TV broadcast an interview with our team that took place a few weeks ago. The interview was conducted by Gisela Weber and covered our 2018 successes as well as the opportunities available on our team. We would like to thank Ms. Weber for coming over to our workshop talk to us about our team!
The interview can be found on Vimeo here.
2018 Battlecry@WPI
From May 19 to 20, 2018, Morpheus travelled to WPI to compete in our third Battlecry offseason competition. Going into Battlecry, we were hoping to improve on our performance at the Championship and climb in every match. After setting up our pit, we successfully tested our climber during a practice match. In our first match, we faced Team 195 (Cyberknights) and earned 0 ranking points, which landed us in last place in the rankings. Going forward, we prioritized earning as many ranking points as we could by using our 2 cube switch auto and our climber. During our next match, we got our first climb! Following that, we were able to score several 4 RP matches, which boosted us up to first place within five matches! Towards the end of qualification matches, we were able to cheesecake an extension onto Team 61's (The Intimidators) climber to allow them to get a double climb with us. At the end of qualifications, we were ranked second with a win-loss record of 7 wins and 1 loss and 25 total ranking points, only two ranking points behind 195! During alliance selection, we chose our friends on Team 2168 (Aluminum Falcons) to join Alliance 2. At the other end of the draft, we picked up Team 3719 (STEM Whalers), our 2017 District Championship Finalist alliance captain! Going into the eighth finals, we prioritized ownership and climbing. In our second eighth finals match, our alliance controlled all three game elements and scored three climbs. Due to missing one climb in our first match, our alliance became the third alliance going into the quarterfinals. Our alliance breezed through the quarterfinals and faced the alliance captained by Team 3314 (Mechanical Mustangs) in the semifinals. Although we fought hard, we were ultimately eliminated in the semifinals. After taking alliance pictures, we found that we had won the General Staff award! Morpheus had a great time working with Team 2168 and Team 3719 and hopes that we can work together again soon. We had a great time at Battlecry 19 and would like to congratulate our friends on Team 195 (Cyberknights), Team 319 (Big Bad Bob), and Team 9985 (Team 4041's offseason robot) for winning the event!
2018 Concord FLL Jr. Expo
Today, May 12, 2018, Team 5813 demonstrated our 2016 robot Goatnado at the 2018 Concord, NH, FLL Jr. Expo hosted by Team 1517 (Lumberjacks) at Bishop Brady High School. We talked to FLL Jr. students about the progression of FIRST programs and FRC. It was thrilling to observe the raw inspiration pour into the brains of the FLL Jr. Students through their eyes and ears. Morpheus had a fantastic time at the 2018 Concord FLL Jr. Expo and would like to thank Team 1517 for inviting us to this event! We'd love to return next year.
2018 Aerospacefest
Today, May 5, 2018, members of FRC Team 5813 participated in the 2018 Aerospacefest at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discover Center in Concord, New Hampshire. After loading in this morning, we demoed our 2016 robot Goatnado to the various attendees. We had a great time talking about our team and FIRST to the participants. Morpheus would like to thank the Discover Center for hosting the 2018 Aerospacefest. Additionally, we would like to thank Team 6763 (FUSION) and Team 1517 (Lumberjacks) for lending us some robot batteries while we wait for our batteries to return from the FIRST Championship in Detroit.
The Concord Monitor Covers Morpheus' 2018 Championship Performance
On Monday, April 30, 2018, The Concord Monitor newspaper featured a front-page article about our team's performance at the 2018 FIRST Championship - Detroit - Curie Subdivision. We were excited to talk with the Monitor at various points throughout the Championship. You can read the article online here.
2018 FIRST Championship - Detroit - Curie Subdivision
On Tuesday, April 24, 2018, members of Team 5813, Morpheus, trekked from Concord, New Hampshire, to Detroit, Michigan, to compete at the first ever FIRST Championship - Detroit. Immediately after setting up our pit, we fixed some intake wrist issues and attached our new climbing mechanism. Once everything was mounted, we spent the rest of the day cabling and tuning the hook deployment as well as exploring the new vast venue of the Cobo Center. We were glad that we had a fairly short walk to both the field and the practice area. After running our practice match and discovering some tweaks that were needed for our climber, we travelled to the practice field to tune both our climber and our autos.
The next day, we won all four of our qualification matches with three ranking points each. On Friday, we had six more qualification matches. Of those six, we won five and earned 18 more ranking points. In our last qualification match, we placed eight cubes in the scale! At the end of the qualification tournament, we were excited to be rank seven with a ranking point average of 3.0! On the morning of the last day of the Championship, we started transporting our pit equipment over towards the elimination pit area to prepare for the quarterfinals. During alliance selection, we became the captain of Alliance 5. For our alliance, we chose Team 2175 (The Fighting Calculators), Team 316 (LUNATECS), and Team 503 (Frog Force) to join us. After alliance selection, we quickly set up our eliminations pit and strategized with our partners. Going into our quarterfinal matches, we were hopeful that we would advance to the semifinals. Unfortunately, in our first quarterfinal match, our elevator had an issue, 503's intake broke, and 2175 fell from their climb and broke their elevator. Despite these setbacks, we reworked our strategy and subbed 316 in for 2175. In the next match, everything was going great, we controlled our switch and the scale. Then a bit over halfway through the match, our alliance accidentally knocked two cubes off of our side of the scale. This gave control of the scale to Alliance 4. Unfortunately, we were unable to regain ownership of the scale and ultimately lost the match by 51 points. Although we had just been eliminated, we were proud of our alliance and team for our performance and our ability to compete at a world class level. We had a great time working with 2175, 316, and 503, and hope to work with them again soon. After taking alliance pictures, talking with our alliance partners, and cleaning up our eliminations pit, we moved to the lobby to take team pictures with the giant FIRST logo. Once we had taken our pictures, we started to load up our crate and watched the Curie Subdivision finals. Morpheus would like to congratulate Team 3707 (Brighton Technodogs), Team 195 (Cyberknights), Team 333 (MEGALODONS), and Team 70 (More Martians) on winning the Curie Subdivision! Until Einstein started, we finished loading our crate, congratulated our pit neighbors and friends on Team 195 on winning Curie and representing New England on Einstein. During the Einstein Round Robin, we cheered for the teams and had a great time watching the high level of play on display in Detroit. Immediately following the round robin, we helped Team 195 move their Einstein pit back to the Curie pits and then talked with Team 1241 (Theory 6), the Tesla Subdivision winners, about their robot and build season schedule. We were excited to head over to the Ford Field and watch the Daly winners face off against the Carson winners in the thrilling Einstein Finals! Morpheus would like to congratulate Team 2767 (Stryke Force), Team 27 (Team Rush), Team 2708 (Lake Effect Robotics), and Team 4027 (Centre County 4-H Robotics) on winning the 2018 FIRST Championship in Detroit! Overall, Morpheus had a great time at the 2018 FIRST Championship; we competed hard, ranked 7th, became alliance captains, and made it to the quarterfinals! Morpheus hopes to compete at the FIRST Championship in Detroit again next year.
Morpheus Assigned to the 2018 Curie Subdivision
FIRST announced the divisions at the 2018 Detroit Championship today, and we have been assigned to the 2018 Curie Subdivision! Morpheus is excited to compete with all of the awesome teams in the Curie Subdivision. To watch matches live from April 25 to 28, go to the Curie Subdivision Twitch stream.
Morpheus Appears in the Concord Monitor Newspaper
On Monday, April 16, 2018, the Concord Monitor newspaper featured an article about our team's successes at the 2018 UNH District Event. We were excited to see that this article was on the front page of the Concord Monitor! You can read the article online here.