The De Smet United Robotics Team (DuRT) went from 16th place at the end of the qualifications to 2nd place out of the finalist teams this Saturday at the Gateway Robotics Challenge, held at Hazelwood Central High School.

The team placed 2nd with two other teams for the first time since robotics teacher Tony Strawhun was a student in 2003 when the team last went to the finals.

“It’s just a testament to how strong the team is,” Strawhun said. “It was cool to see what we had accomplished and how far we have come.”

In competition, teams test their robots in a unique game that includes various obstacles and challenges. The game was called FIRST Stronghold, which featured two castles, one for each alliance. The alliances were comprised of three robotics teams, which used their robots to break the defenses of the castle.

“The object is to breach the defenses side and collect as many points as possible, and try and weaken the team’s castle,” Strawhun said. “It’s important to know where you are strong and weak and where your opponents are strong and weak.”

After the qualification matches, the top eight teams chose two teams to partner with to try to win it all.  

“Luckily we were picked by Mars Robotics (Metamora Illinois Robotics Team), they were in third when they picked us,” senior Patrick Sanchez said. “The other team picked to be on our team was Metool Brigade (O’Fallon Township High School).”

During the competition, DuRT had some hiccups. In their first match of the finals, their robot’s battery fell after hitting a bump. Then in the second match the robot lost connection after hitting the back wall too hard. When they fell down, however, they always got back up.

“It was really exciting because it was the first time we placed in a long time,” sophomore Jacob Deighton said. “It was just exciting that we got there even after all the misfortunes.”

The team will start building a new robot in January for the next competition. They will have six weeks to build a robot from scratch that meets the competition requirements. After the six weeks is up the team cannot touch the robot till the competition in March.