Argos 1756 Qualifies for World Championship

Victoria Towle and Cody Smith
April 22, 2022

ARGOS 1756, Limestone High School’s First Robotics Competition team, sponsored by Caterpillar, is competing at the First Robotics World Competition in Houston, Texas April 20th-23rd. (Matches can be watched here, https://www.twitch.tv/firstinspires_galileo?sr=a) 
The driver is typically a position for seniors but Limestone student, Logan  Mason, managed to get the position his sophomore year. There are two drivers for the team, and each will do a different function. One driver will actually move the robot around, and the other controls the special functions of the robot. Logan says the drivers are usually matched up male-male and female-female but sometimes it’s mixed. Such as this year, Mason’s co-driver is a female from Illini Bluffs, Grace Hatten.
To qualify for Worlds, ARGOS won their Central Illinois Regional competition along with that they also became St. Louis Regional Champions.
At the Central Illinois Regional, held at Bradley University, ARGOS partnered with WildStang 111, from Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Robotic Eagles 8122, from Chicago, to form the Red Alliance. They went undefeated in the playoffs to win and qualify for FRC Worlds.  ARGOS dominated with a preliminary Alliance record of 9-2 and a 2nd place ranking going into the playoffs. Mason said, “It was fun and very competitive, and a great learning experience.”
During awards, ARGOS was recognized with the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors.  According to FRC, “The Industrial Design Award celebrates the team that demonstrates design principles, striking a balance between form, function, and aesthetics.” 
Rounding out the weekend, Argos set the event high score and set the world record combined match score, and ended the weekend as the #2 cargo scorer in the world.
LCHS faculty sponsor, Angelique Garro said, “I really enjoyed being at the competition. It was a great atmosphere, and everyone was really encouraging. Everyone demonstrated gracious professionalism and I am really proud and excited
ARGOS also dominated the St. Louis Regionals held on March 31 and April 1.
ARGOS’ captained the alliance, who were event champions, as well as won the Excellence in Engineering Award. After spending the majority of the competition ranked first, ARGOS selected Ratchet Rockers 1706 from Wentzville, MO, and Edwardsville Technologies 4931 from Edwardsville, IL to join them on the Red Alliance.
ARGOS went undefeated in their playoff rounds and defeated local teams including  MARS/WARS from Metamora, Roboteers from Tremont, and Robot Casserole from Peoria.
Rapid React, this year’s FRC game, has robots collecting rubber ball cargo and shooting it into one of two scoring pods and then participating in a series of climbs at the conclusion of each match to earn points.