May 01, 2025

The Ratchet Rocker Robotics Team 1706, composed of students from every high school in the Wentzville School District, allows students to collaborate in the competitive robotics arena. Their custom-built robot, Singularity, earned two regional wins, securing their ability to compete at the World Championships at the FIRST 2025 Championship in Houston, Tx., April 17-19. There they competed against 600 teams and finished at the Championships as Curie Division Finalists.

This year’s game, Reefscape, challenged robots to manipulate coral and algae before a climactic hang. Team 1706, with 42 students, worked to design, manufacture, build, wire, and program Singularity. Beyond the build, students contributed to team branding and documentation.

Competing at the St. Louis Regional, Mar. 13-15, the team had a 14-2-0 record, ranked 2nd, and won the regional championship in alliance with Team 27 Rush and Team 1329 ViPrs. They also earned the Quality Award. At the Iowa Regional, Mar. 27-29, they finished 14-0-0, were the top seed, and won with Team 4646 Wildcard Robotics and Team 5914 Robotic Warriors. They also received the Innovation in Control Award.

At the World Championships, after qualification matches, the Ratchet Rockers ranked 36th on the Curie Field and joined the #2 alliance with 3663 CPR-Cedar Park Robotics, 862 Lightning Robotics, and 3539 Byting Bulldogs. They navigated intense matches, including a tied first match against alliance 7, followed by a narrow victory in the replay. They continued winning to reach the Curie Division Finals, where they faced the #5 alliance and ultimately finished as finalists. The team ends the regular season with a record of 35/10/1 and is currently ranked 18th in the world out of more than 3,700 teams.

To see more data on the team and their robot, visit The Blue Alliance https://www.thebluealliance.com/team/1706 and Statbotics https://www.statbotics.io/team/1706. 

(Photo provided by Hester Menier)