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I decided to return to the team as a mentor because, as a student, I was always busy working with the robot and rarely had the chance to watch competitions from the stands. Becoming a mentor has given me a new perspective and allowed me to enjoy events in a way I never could before. I also came back to support my friends who are still students and help them succeed. As a mentor, I have fewer direct responsibilities and can focus more on guiding students as they take on leadership roles. The FIRST robotics program continues to be an exciting and rewarding experience for me. Robotics is truly the greatest sport, combining teamwork, creativity, and innovation in a way that makes every season unforgettable.
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For me, the moment everything became real was during alliance selections. When our team was selected by the number one alliance, made up of two of the top teams in the entire state, I realized we had an opportunity to do something historic for our program. We could win the state championship. 600 teams in the state of Michigan, 3 winners, and we had the chance to be part of an elite group of robotics teams.
Competing at the 2026 FIRST in Michigan State Championship was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever been a part of. As team captain, I had the privilege of leading a group of students who continuously demonstrated dedication, resilience, and teamwork throughout the entire season. Especially at the State Championship, with some bad luck in qualifications and our robot catching on fire early on in the competition, the team maintained their poise and maturity throughout. The atmosphere at States was unlike anything else. The energy in the arena, the intensity of every match, and the support from teams, mentors, and families created an environment that was both inspiring and unforgettable. Being surrounded by some of the best teams in Michigan pushed all of us to perform at our highest level. All our team wanted to do was help our alliance partners be the best they could be, and perform at the highest level, one we were preparing to play at the entire season. What made the experience truly special, however, was not just winning the State Championship, it was accomplishing it together. Watching our team work alongside elite alliance partners, trust one another under pressure, and rise to the occasion showed what FIRST Robotics Competition is really about: allowing students to learn and grow. Success at that level is not achieved by one person; it is built through collaboration, preparation, and a shared commitment to excellence. Winning the Michigan State Championship was an incredible honor for our program, but more importantly, it was a reflection of the hard work and support from everyone involved — our students, mentors, sponsors, parents, and community. None of it would have been possible without the people who believed in us throughout the season. This experience is something I will remember for the rest of my life, and I am proud to have represented our team on one of the biggest stages in FIRST Robotics Competition. Jared Craven Captain 3668, the TroBots Hi! The TroBots need your help to get to worlds! If you can spare any cash please donate to this link:
https://www.pledgecents.com/cause/tdmsmc/send-the-trobots-to-worlds?fbclid=IwAR1am-A0rS3DAufalXmIhFj2q5ZvqUv3qGkxneJUHLe-qY9AxqFFXkmwPF8 Robotics Rocks!
Find painted rocks around Whitmore and bring them to the WL Robotics Garage Sale to claim your free prize!!!! 9048 Posey Drive, Whitmore Lake Friday, August 2nd 9am - 7pm Saturday, August 3rd 9am - 2pm The only thing we love better than robot season is our amazing sponsors!! These fantastic people/companies help to finance our build season and we are very thankful for them! We have one sponsor who has been with us since the beginning and this week, we'd like to extend our eternal thanks to Durr! In addition to their continuing financial support, we got some swag this year! We couldn't wait to throw on our shades and pose with this year's robot! (We also got some pens, which is awesome, because they are forever running off!) THANK YOU, DURR!   You can't have progress without some setbacks. We've got too many jobs to do that can't be done without the other jobs being done first.
Build team is spending the whole meeting taking the robot apart and putting it back together. They build a part, change their plans, then pretty much disassemble the whole robot just to put one part on; lather, rinse, repeat. Electronics is backpedaling as well, but at least they're catching their mistakes early. They made some mistakes putting wires together, but at least it wasn't anything unfixable. As of right now, they're mapping out the electronics board before they make any components for it. The coding gremlins have hit a wall with making the robot driveable. They'll have to think their way out of this hole of math problems before they can get any more coding done. One a more productive note, the game elements team is just about finished with the scale! A few loose ends are being tied up and we need a wall for the robot to slide against, but other than that, we're done!  The team is working hard to keep up with our goals, and we're making great progress.
Programming is getting situated with a new gyro, and we're just cleaning things up a bit on the website!
School was cancelled today, but a good robotics team never takes a day off! The whole team is hard at work:  Our coding gremlins are battling technical difficulties with the encoders.  The game elements team is currently building walls for the scale. Build team is designing the system that our robot will pick up power cubes with. Or, as they have taken to calling it, "picking up chicks." I'm sure it makes sense to them.  And here's us updating the website and writing this blog. Inception!
Here we are on Day 2 of build season and the team is working like maniacs!
After watching yesterday's release video, a thorough review of the rules and specs this year, and a very successful brainstorming session, the team has settled on what features this year's robot will have.
Today, TroBots are working on the belt spacing for the new robot competition chassis, reworking the test chassis (so it mirrors the competition chassis), creating the intake elevator/belt system to move the cubes, repairing and installing programs on some of our laptops, and building our practice scale base so our robot has something to climb.
As of yesterday's kickoff, there were 3,652 teams in 27 countries! Competition should be fast and furious this year...we can't wait until our first meet on March 9 & 10... Stay tuned for more updates! |
AuthorBrooke Craven Archive
June 2026
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