MRCA Season 2 kicked off with a bang on March 4th. WRC this year was not only the largest MRCA event so far, but with 56 competitors, it was also one of the largest antweight events ever held! Despite the potential pitfalls of holding such a big event, everything went very smoothly and the final fight even finished ahead of schedule. A massive event such as this is bound to have plenty of exciting new bots and intense fights, so lets break it all down.
Team Sidewinder: Franklin
Franklin is a robot that was on no one's radar at the beginning of WRC, but with some impressive driving and a powerful drivetrain, they quickly proved they were a force to be reckoned with. With a 9th place finish at their first MRCA event, team Sidewinder is one everyone will have their eye on in the future!
Team Constructive Exercise: Bobber
Another first time MRCA entry, Ben and team Constructive Exercise impressed everyone with their sleek 4WD vertical spinner, Bobber. Throughout the day, he managed to pull off wins against favorites such as FL!P, and achieved a 7th place finish. Ben also recently took 3rd place in the MRCA CAD competition, showing that he's set to be a valuable member of the community for years to come.
Team Vokko: Yeeter McFlipperton
Powerful flipper bots have always been under-represented at MRCA events. That's why it's so nice to see Team Vokko join the fray with Yeeter McFlipperton. Once they learn to control their extremely powerful drivetrain, this bot will surely be at the top.
Team 42 Robotics: Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
Dave of Team 42 Robotics brought a new melty-brain drive robot, which is a MRCA first! This design, which effectively turns the entire robot into a weapon, can lead to some very chaotic and entertaining matches. Unfortunately, the robot was operating in manual mode due to a control board failure shortly before the event, but it still had impressive durability and entertainment value. At times, Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster resembled a hockey puck more than a robot! When fully operational, this will be a robot to watch out for.
Killa Bees Robotics: Miles Edward O'Brien & Rules of Acquisition
Is Killa Bees' new robot Miles Edward O'Brien a successful bot? No. But at least it's a good robot, right? Also, no. But for all of its failures, it still deserves a mention just for its level of innovation. This attempt at a gyro-walking horizontal ring spinner may have failed, but let's hope Brendan doesn't give up on it. This is another robot that has the potential to become quite the spectacle if the bugs can be ironed out.
And because Brendan won't want this competition to be remembered for his ambitious failures, here's his new 4WD Rules of Acquisition repeatedly sending a Necessary Evil kit into the ceiling.
Team Mashup: KILLJOY
Jair and Team Mashup had a good showing with their bot Nosferatu, as one would expect, but lets take a minute to talk about their new bot, KILLJOY! Bearing more than a passing resemblance to the BattleBot, Ominous, this may be the first MRCA bot to employ an omni-wheel holonomic drive system. Clearly, Jair has gotten some practice with this new drive system because it's a spectacle watching KILLJOY strafe across the box.
GBT Robotics: Pirithous
Since its introduction last year, the pneumatic flipper Pirithous has been a consistently good robot, but this is the first time Ethan of GBT Robotics has managed to get it near the top of the pack. If he can keep up performances like these, could it even replace Theseus as his most feared bot?
Team Already Broke: Insipidity & The Victim
Team Already Broke brought four robots to WRC and saw a reasonable amount of success with all of them. That being said, their new bots Insipidity and The Victim stole the show. With third and second place finishes, respectively, both of these bots punched their ticket to the MRCA finals in the first event of the season. And in all likelihood, they'll only get better from here.
y0 Robotics: Mudskipper
For their third visit to Wisconsin in a row, team y0 Robotics walked away with the gold. Mudskipper was driven by Rachel this time. Her precision driving was on display throughout the entire tournament as Mudskipper swept the winner's bracket (again), leaving nothing but destruction in its wake.
WRC saw a lot of robots make really big statements in this MRCA season's opener. We're super excited to keep watching our deadliest field yet shape up for the 2023 MRCA Finals!