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The Saginaw News: 4/23/2018
Hundreds of students compete in Midland robot games
Jacob Hamilton
MIDLAND - As the high school basketball season draws to a close in Lansing, the gymnasium at H.H. Dow High School is still packed - but the game is a very different one.
On opposite sides of a plexiglas-rimmed playing field not unlike a basketball court, three teams of three students apiece form "Alliances" and prepare their 120-pound robots for a video-gamed theme challenge.
Each round kicks off with a 15-second automated period during which students aren't allowed to touch their controls. The pre-programmed bots use this time to dump their first "power block" into their team's goal. From there, the students take over, with each robot designed to overcome the field's obstacles and score points in a different way.
The organization responsible for the game - FIRST Robotics - hosts identical local competitions across the U.S., with more teams located in Michigan than any other state.
More than 35 high schools from Saginaw, Bay, Midland and Isabella counties were represented at the competition, from Dow High's own Team "Like a Boss" to Saginaw Career Complex's "Team Phoenix."
In the "Pits" inside the school's secondary gym, teams gather to tweak, repair and recharge their 'bots. Students mingle with volunteers and competitors, with the occasional call to share spare parts, supplies and mutual aid ringing over the intercom.
The students are encouraged to collaborate under the tenet of "gracious professionalism," one of the eight award categories for the competition that don't count the final score.
The FIRST Robotics Midland District Competition is free to attend and runs until 7 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at H.H. Dow High School, 3901 North Saginaw Rd. in Midland.
Want to read the original article? Visit The Saginaw News
Hundreds of students compete in Midland robot games
Jacob Hamilton
MIDLAND - As the high school basketball season draws to a close in Lansing, the gymnasium at H.H. Dow High School is still packed - but the game is a very different one.
On opposite sides of a plexiglas-rimmed playing field not unlike a basketball court, three teams of three students apiece form "Alliances" and prepare their 120-pound robots for a video-gamed theme challenge.
Each round kicks off with a 15-second automated period during which students aren't allowed to touch their controls. The pre-programmed bots use this time to dump their first "power block" into their team's goal. From there, the students take over, with each robot designed to overcome the field's obstacles and score points in a different way.
The organization responsible for the game - FIRST Robotics - hosts identical local competitions across the U.S., with more teams located in Michigan than any other state.
More than 35 high schools from Saginaw, Bay, Midland and Isabella counties were represented at the competition, from Dow High's own Team "Like a Boss" to Saginaw Career Complex's "Team Phoenix."
In the "Pits" inside the school's secondary gym, teams gather to tweak, repair and recharge their 'bots. Students mingle with volunteers and competitors, with the occasional call to share spare parts, supplies and mutual aid ringing over the intercom.
The students are encouraged to collaborate under the tenet of "gracious professionalism," one of the eight award categories for the competition that don't count the final score.
The FIRST Robotics Midland District Competition is free to attend and runs until 7 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at H.H. Dow High School, 3901 North Saginaw Rd. in Midland.
Want to read the original article? Visit The Saginaw News