Devil Robotics’ FIRST Tech Challenge team travelled to Adelaide for the South Australia Qualifier 2025 knowing they still had a lot of work to do to get their robot ready for competition. Despite this, team spirits were high and they made good use of their time the night before the event, which included improving the autonomous control system.
The preparation day on Saturday was spent working through a major technical challenge with the catapult mechanism. Its design required more torque than the motor could reliably provide, but without that torque the catapult wasn’t strong enough to get the ball into the goal. The team also had their first chance to practise on a full‑sized, properly set‑up FTC field, including a full practice match. This provided valuable insight into robot performance under realistic match conditions and was an important learning experience for the team.
Sunday was competition day. Throughout the qualification rounds, the team had great experiences with their alliance partners and made steady improvements. A significant turning point came when the RoboRoos generously lent the team a higher‑torque motor. Combined with a donated rubber strap, this upgrade made the catapult mechanism reliable and allowed the robot to score consistently.
Credit goes to the team captain for selecting a great alliance partner. Together, the alliance won one match in the finals and ultimately finished as the second alliance to be knocked out. The team placed approximately 6th out of 12 teams at the regional event.
From programming and mechanical adjustments to strategy discussions and on‑field performance, every person played a critical role. The trip to Adelaide provided valuable experience, highlighted areas for future development, and showed how much the team could achieve through persistence, collaboration, and problem‑solving.
