by Soham Erasani ’27
Once again, it’s competition season for Bellarmine’s FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team! Just a few weeks ago Team 254, The Cheesy Poofs, qualified to the World Championships at the Sacramento Regional at Pleasant Grove High School. Each year students and mentors work to build a robot up to 125 pounds capable of competing in that year’s game. The game this year consists of a 3 vs. 3 alliance, with the main objective being to pick up orange disk-like shapes called notes
and scoring them into an Amp
and Speaker.
The game starts off with a pre-coded autonomous motion of the robot to score as many points as possible. In the teleop period, up to two drivers control the robot and its operations manually and try to score as many points as possible. In the end game, which is typically the last 20 seconds for this game, robots try to climb on the chain and score another note in the trap.
Coming in at the 3rd seed after Friday (3/15) and Saturday (3/16) mornings’ qualification matches, Team 604 Quixilver (1st seed) from Leland High School selected The Cheesy Poofs as their first pick to be a part of their alliance. Later, as the 3rd pick, Quixilver and The Cheesy Poofs picked Team 4135, the Iron Patriots from the Modesto City Schools. After 4 long elimination matches, the alliance advanced to the final round.
The finals consisted of a best of 3 matches against the 2nd seeded alliance, Team 1678 Citrus Circuits, Team 5419 Berkelium, and Team 2204 Rambots, but as the 1st seeded alliance it would be to some of the toughest matches yet. After 2 long matches with several replays due to field faults, the number 1 alliance came out on top, securing the win and the ticket to the World Championships.
Moreover, just this past weekend the Cheesy Poofs traveled to Berkeley High School for the last regional of the season, the East Bay Regional. This regional had some of the best teams in the world competing including Team 1678 (Citrus Circuits), Team 114 (Eaglestrike), Team 5419 (Berkelium), Team 5940 (BREAD), Team 581 (The Blazing Bulldogs) and so many more! These regionals would not be an easy win for the Cheesy Poofs. Unsurprisingly, Team 254 went undefeated in their qualification matches, placing them as the #1 seed of this massive tournament with 60 teams. In the alliance selection period, Team 254 selected Team 1678 (Citrus Circuits), the #2 seed. Then, for their 2nd pick, the Cheesy Poofs chose Team 1160 (Titanium Robotics). In the first elimination match alone, the alliance were able to set our first world record at 171 points! If you thought that was it, you would be sadly mistaken, because the Cheesy Poofs went on to set another World Record in the semifinals match, with a score of 189 points. That’s a score that might not even be broken at the World Championships! Come the finals, the number 1 alliance was facing the #2 seeded alliance with Team 5940 (BREAD), Team 581 (The Blazing Bulldogs), and Team 1458 (Red Tie Robotics). However, as the #1 seeded alliance, they quickly swooped up the win in a best of 3 finals, in just 2 matches, securing their second win of the season, but this time as captains of the alliance. They were also able to secure a spot at the World Championships for Team 1160 (Titanium Robotics) for the first time ever!
Additionally. the Cheesy Poofs won the Quality Award displaying the robot of the best quality at the Sacramento Regional. Furthermore, congratulations to Jason Mendoza ‘25 for his work as Business Director this season, and his award as a Dean’s List Finalist nominee at the Sacramento Regional for the World Championships. Lastly, at the East Bay Regional, the Cheesy Poofs won the Engineering Excellence Award for the best engineered robot out of 60 robots at this competition!
Stay tuned, as the Cheesy Poofs travel to the World Championships in Houston, TX from April 17 – April 20 and hopefully capture their 6th title win! Go follow Team 254 on Instagram to see live updates at the end of every day at the World Championships.