First Robotics Competition
Folks around Brooklyn might notice a lot of trailers rolling into town Friday night and increased traffic for the weekend. Columbia School District is expecting up to 1,500 visitors on March 1st, 2nd, and 3rd as they host a First Robotics Competition for the first time.
The competition, which is being sponsored by Consumers Energy, will be hosting 40 teams from across the state, all vying for the coveted blue banner, in addition to other design, engineering, coding, and outreach awards. The game is played on a field the size of a basketball court, with 6 robots on the field at a time, all trying to score as many points as they can in two-and-a-half-minute matches.
For the past several years, the event has been hosted by Spring Arbor University, but when they declined to continue hosting this year, Columbia School District jumped at the opportunity.
“Columbia Schools have been committed to K-12 robotics for the past 6 years, and this is another fantastic opportunity to introduce the programs available to kids in our district,” says Jim Baker, superintendent of Columbia School District. “Our students are getting real-world experience in engineering, programming, and fabrication, all important 21st-century skills.”
In First Robotics, the challenge is released the first weekend of January, so teams have just two months until the first weekend of competition to design, build, and program their robots. According to Columbia Central Junior, Nathan Harris, the season requires a lot of commitment and hard work.
“We’re meeting every day of the week at this point in the season. We’re here every night and usually 5 hours a day on weekends, but it’s all worth it when we see our robot out on the field,” says Harris. “Our robots just keep getting better and better every year. This year, we have Swerve Drive for the first time and we’re super excited to compete with this bot. It’s going to be a game changer for our team.”
The team is mentored by community volunteers, Marty Trenkle, Howard Bartlett, Mark Holbert, Chris Holbert, and Jennifer Rogers-Harris, and they are always looking for more mentors and sponsoring partners. This year, the team is being sponsored by the Columbia School Foundation, Ford, Kiwanis Club of Brooklyn, Consumers Energy, Mid-America, Machining, Inc., Alro Steel, Forty-Nine South, Jugheads, Encrypted Coatings, and Boaters Choice.
Robot matches begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning. The event is open to the public and spectators are welcome to watch the matches and meet the teams while touring their pits. Safety glasses are required in the pit area, so spectators are encouraged to bring their own if they have them, but there will be some available to borrow or purchase on-site.
Members of the community interested in helping with the event or in becoming a team mentor should reach out to Chris Holbert at chris.holbert@myeagles.org.