BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Staff Writer
Team RUSH 27 Robotics is using every free moment they have to get ready for the FIRST Michigan State Championship at Saginaw Valley State University this Wednesday through Saturday.
“We’re all excited to experience states has to offer,” said senior Adam Schmitz, adding the drive team hasn’t been to a state competition since the last two seasons for 2021 and 2020 were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. “It’s a fairly new experience for us.”
“Right now we can’t get ahead of ourselves with three banners,” said senior John Mueller on the drive team. “We have to keep our heads cool, practice and get ready. We don’t know what to expect at states.”
Sophomore Daniel Bradstreet is excited.
“As a brand new student, I haven’t been to anything bigger than a regional,” he said. “I am real excited to see us on a bigger scale and how we compete with more competitive teams.”
To prepare, the drive team meets every day.
“We have been practicing on different skills and techniques like picking up cargo on a different angle or situational awareness. Situations we need to expose ourselves to in order to improve,” said Schmitz.
They are also looking at match videos to see what they need to improve upon.
“Another big thing is working on the robot and if we have a problem with the robot making sure the issue is known and helping fix it and resolve that issue,” said Mueller. “Implementing some programming changes onto the robot to make the driving a little bit more easier.”
Helping with helping fix the robot are the pit crew which includes senior Isabel Matthews and sophomore Lauren Sielinski.
“We are there in between matches whenever the robot comes back to make sure everything is working okay,” Sielinski said. “If anything broke or doesn’t seem to be working. We are there to check it and be able to fix it so it’s ready for the next match.”

She added they also do basic things like switching batteries and system checks.
The pit crew is preparing by looking over what needs to be fixed or what needs to be improved.
“We have a whole whiteboard list to do for our competition bot and our practice bot so we are ready for states and worlds as well,” said Matthews.
The scouting and strategy teams are also getting ready. Freshman Sam DeKoninck is on both teams.
“For scouting, we have an app that we programmed and designed that collects all the data we need to know how much a team is scoring,” he said. “Then, we also have strategy where we take notes on every robot in every match. At the end of the night we go through all the notes and determine which robot is better than which based on scouting data. Then, when we have a rough idea we go through all of our strategy notes. This helps ensure we have the best robot on our alliance to give us the best chance to win.”
Mueller added it’s helpful for not only joining or creating an alliance with two other teams but also to figure out strategy on the field like what robot is better at shooting the balls and which one is better at defense.
“I have been doing robotics for a couple years in middle school,” DeKoninck shared. “I really enjoy this level a lot more. I am more into it and feel like I can contribute more and learn more.”
Team RUSH shares thank you to the community as they head to the state competition and the world competition next week.
“Thank you so much for all the support,” said Sielinski. “So cool to see what a big support throughout the whole community.
“Thanks to the community,” Mueller said. “We couldn’t do it without everybody’s help.”
For more information about Team RUSH, visit teamrush27.net or follow them in Twitter and Facebook.

  Robotics, Team RUSH, Team RUSH 27