Morgan Kindermann, a student on The Oxford RoboCats Team 2137, contributed to this report

RoboCats finish second at Saline District Event
By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
jnewell@mihomepaper.com
SALINE, Mich. — The Oxford RoboCats are heading to the FIRST Robotics Michigan State Championships after finishing in second place at the district event at Saline High School last weekend.
The FIRST Robotics Michigan State Championship is from April 3-5 at Saginaw Valley State University where the team will try to earn a spot to the World Championship in Houston from April 16-19.
The RoboCats, Team 2137, earned a trip to the state championship after their second-place finish in Saline and their victory in the district event at Kettering University the first weekend in March.
Out of 38 teams that competed at Saline High School, The RoboCats placed third in qualifying matches and during alliance selection and were chosen by the captain of the second alliance, Team 27, RUSH, from Clarkston. Both teams chose Team 6101, Strange Quarks, from Ann Arbor to compete with them in their alliance, but were defeated in the finals.

Of the 528 robotics teams in the state, The RoboCats are currently ranked 13th. Teams qualify for the state championship based on how many ranking points they earn, usually 65 points or more.
Each year, FIRST Robotics releases a theme for the robotics competition season, and this year the theme is Reefscape. Robotics teams design their robot to complete challenges and overcome obstacles on the playing field, such as placing objects like cylinders into a holding rack, or defending against other robots. Teams for a three-team alliance and work with two other teams on the competition floor to score points and prevent their opponents from scoring.
RoboCats head coach Ian Houston said team members meet year-round and have 450-600 hours of contact throughout the year.
“It’s the first time we’ve won an event since 2019,” said Houston, of the team’s district win at Kettering, adding this is the best year the RoboCats have had since 2020.
The RoboCats qualified for the state competition last year and getting back to the state championship was a major goal for the team.
Senior Molly Antoniou has been on the robotics team for four years and is the team captain.
“I’d say some of the strengths of the team is we recognize what we need to improve on and then we work towards those goals. We recognize we have to get it done very quickly and if it’s not efficient enough we have to move to a different idea,” Antoniou said.
The team brainstormed at the beginning of the year to identify how they wanted to build their robot, and then after each competition they analyze the pros of the competition and the areas that they need to change.
“I think our biggest challenge now is improving the robot. We know we have a good base design, but we also know other teams are also going to improve,” Antoniou said. “So, we need to improve with them, as well as maintain our own efficiency and how good we are right now.”
Antoniou said the RoboCats’ robot is designed for offensive – toward scoring
“That’s why we got scouted at (our first competition), because we were the best at scoring,” she said, adding that the team can work defensively, if necessary. “We have good drivers, so we can do that.”
What’s special about this year’s RoboCats is that they team has 23 professional mentors helping the 25 students on the team.

“Just the amount of support we get from (adult) mentors. A lot of other teams have maybe only five or six mentors but we have almost a one-to-one ratio of mentors that can help students,” Antoniou said.
The goal for the team this season is to keep improving each week, each competition, make it to the state competition and then to qualify for the World Championship.
“(I was) pretty confident that we’re going to make it to states, so worlds is definitely going to be our next best thing,” Antoniou said. “I would like to not only qualify for Worlds, but to be within the top 30 teams.”
Senior Noah Gardner has been on the team for four years and drives the robot at competitions and said this year’s competition field has a “pick and place” objective, meaning the team’s robot picks up objects and places those objects in various holding racks or towers. Previous competitions have had more of a focus of shooting or launching objects.
“It’s nice to be able to control (the robot) in an intense situation. Pushing it to the limits of what it was designed for,” Garnder said, adding when he’s operating the robot he’s completely focused on the objective. “Honestly, when I’m driving it I’m usually tuning out whatever I’m hearing. I never remember what I’m hearing when I’m driving and I don’t really hear the crowd.”
The RoboCats have multiple divisions within the team that work together to design and construct the robot, do coding and set up the “pit” at competitions as well as driving the robot.
The Oxford RoboCats next competition will be at Saginaw Valley State University in University Center, Mich. from April 3-5.
To track the team’s success, follow them on Facebook and Instagram, as well as www.team2137.com.