Ohio State Competition

Sraivyn - 16 March 2026 - 10:35 am

WACO Aerobotics attends the FTC Ohio Championship

5140’s season came to a close this weekend with our journey ending at the FTC Ohio State Competition in Troy, OH. This was WACO Aerobotics first State appearance since the team reformed 5 years ago and a great ending to those original seniors. The competition was very tough, with the best of the Ohio teams coming out in full force. Our pit booth was top notch and the team had lots of nervous anticipation on the days events.

To start the day off, Coach Dave was selected as the Compass Award recipient. The award submission was created and put in by the team. Coach Dave was selected for over 11 years of dedicated professionalism to teaching engineering principles.

The Compass Award recognizes an adult coach or mentor who has given outstanding guidance and support to a team throughout the year and demonstrates to the team what it means to be a Gracious Professional. The winner of the Compass Award will be chosen from candidates nominated by FIRST Tech Challenge STUDENT team members, via a 40-60 second video submission.

The first match gave a win, but fell short the remaining four. The robot had difficulties with the changes and wasn’t quite performing up to par, but overall the matches went well. We ranked 28th out of 38 teams from all around the state of Ohio.

https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2025/USOHCMP/rankings

WACO Aerobotics gracious professionalism on display

We didn’t walk away from this experience with just the knowledge and fun of the journey. We were awarded the Innovate Award for our revolver and Geneva drive mechanism on the robot.

The Innovate Award celebrates a team that thinks imaginatively and has the ingenuity, creativity, and inventiveness to make their designs come to life. This judged award is given to the team that has an innovative and creative ROBOT design solution to any specific components in the FIRST Tech Challenge game. Elements of this award include design, robustness, and creative thinking related to design.

WACO Aerobotics wins the FTC Innovate Award

This team has come a long way this season, growing in engineering and leadership skills. You have set a great starting point for following members to grow and thrive.