ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – This week, 39 schools are competing in the FIRST Robotics District Competition in Escanaba.
“We’ve been doing this for like nine years at the Escanaba High School, and when we first started it was the only U.P. event,” said event coordinator Marie Young. “These teams have all worked together to design a robot, program the robot, get it all lined up electrically. They’ve learned how to play the game, and now they’re here to test out their robots, make some friends, and learn a lot.”
Teams vary in size, with newcomers working alongside established teams. Each team has one or more mentors who guide them from the design to the competition.
“A mentor can be any engineer in the field or electrical person or people’s parents, and they really work hand-in-hand with each team member,” Young said. “The actual learning that goes on is extremely valuable.”
This year’s game has a music theme. The robots’ objective is to get foam rings, called notes, into the goals, called amps and speakers. On Saturday, the top eight teams will pick two others to compete on their alliance teams in the championship matches.
“We have to go to two district events in hopes to get them to the state competition, so they take the top 40 for the states,” Young explained.
Win or lose, students say robotics is a fun challenge. For many, it’s also given them a head start on their future careers.
“My plan after high school is to go to college for two years and then to go into the trades,” said Chris Glish, Escanaba Robomos builder and pit crew member. “I think the most challenging part of robotics is just trying to get everything to work altogether, because there’s a whole mechanical side of it and there’s a whole electronic side of it. I enjoy the competitions, I enjoy building the robot, learning how to do new things. It teaches me good skills about using my hands, stuff like that.”
“Knowing wires and programming can help you get into a better college, help you get a better job than you expected you would be able to get,” said Ewen-Trout Creek Pantherbots member Tre.
The FIRST in Michigan Robotics District Competition concludes on Saturday with playoff matches from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony. Click here to learn more about FIRST Robotics.
