By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Freeland Mich.—  On May 18, the Brandon Middle School robotics team, Brandon Tech, Team #5976 competed at the FIRST Tech Challenge Freeland Gear Up off-season spring event in Freeland, Mich. The event is the final opportunity for eighth grade students prior to joining Truck Town Thunder at Brandon High School.
Brandon Tech finished in 12th place of the qualifying matches out of 27 teams at Freeland.  In the playoff rounds of the competition, Brandon Tech was chosen as a partner by the second seeded team to vie for the tournament championship.  Unfortunately, Brandon Tech and their alliance were defeated in the semi-final rounds, but still placed fourth overall.
Brandon Tech received the Design Award presented to the teams that incorporate industrial design elements into their robot that simplify the robot’s appearance by giving it a clean look, be decorative in nature, or otherwise express the creativity of the team. The robot should be durable, efficiently designed, and effectively address the game challenge, and further the robot distinguishes itself from others by its aesthetic and functional design, the basis for the design is well considered, and is effective and consistent with team plan and strategy.