2023 Summer of MiniFRC Recap
After months of planning, the season officially started on 6/17/23 at the MiniFRC: Charged Up kickoff. Students representing 5 FRC teams came together to launch the season. The kickoff was run by 4561 students and was the first to ever feature the complete field available to teams from day zero.
The field was set up during the Thursday build day before the event, which is the earliest a field has been prepared before an event. On the following Saturday, 4561 held MiniFRC 9: Charged Up.
MiniFRC 9: Charged Up (7/1/23)
60 competitors forming 24 teams brought robots to play at MiniFRC 9: Charged Up. Middleschoolers, highschoolers, mentors, and parents competed. Two teams from Virginia and a team from Georgia made long drives to compete as well. 4561 went all out, with prepared ceremonies, a stream with commentary, name tags, concessions, and Tee shirts! It was a blast. Teams played in 23 qual matches and 15 playoff matches before the winning alliance was determined and awards were given. The event even basically ended on time! Check out the stream here.
MiniFRC Camp 1: Charged Up (7/6/23 - 7/8/23)
This three day event started the Thursday after MiniFRC 9. Rising 6th, 7th, and 8th graders were given two days to build MiniFRC charged up robots with the guidance of volunteers. 12 campers built 11 robots and competed that Saturday. Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive!
MiniFRC Summer Edition: Charged Up (7/13/23 - 7/15/23)
4561 has twice now attempted to use MiniFRC to reach disabled students interested in robotics. But sad to say, MiniFRC Special Edition is 0/2 when it comes to finding participants. (If you have any leads on how the TerrorBytes can do better please reach out!) In the week leading up to the event, focus was reshifted and the event was opened to all. The event was rebranded to MiniFRC Summer Edition. Like MiniFRC Camp, the 2 days before the event were open build days. Something new for this event was the venue, the IBM RTP campus! Both new and veteran builders participated. 16 teams came together to compete on July 15th at IBM, it was a fun and chill event! Check out the stream here.
