Like in the immortal horizon, robotics kids come from all different backgrounds and interests. While many are solely in robotics, there are many who take part in sports and other activities; they participate in sports from swimming to running track and cross-country to soccer, plus more. Yet, they find time to build a robot (or multiple) throughout the school year, which takes up most of their time. Each team has a team (usually not related to their school) which allows them to have specific outfits for their competitions. These teams exist throughout the country and the world, including in China, Colombia, and Canada. Among those in the twin cities, there is KING TeC (Prior Lake), The Fighting Calculators (Woodbury), RoboCats (Waconia), and the Technocrats (Hopkins). While each team wears different “uniforms,” Prior Lake’s team, KING TeC wears capes and crowns to each competition. Each team looks different and prepares for their matches differently, like the runners in Immortal Horizon, some might eat "Pop-Tarts and candy bars and geriatric energy drinks" (Jamison 91) to keep them awake after late nights preparing for the match, and some teams wear ridiculous outfits that make hem recognizable to other teams.
Each team works for what seems like night and day to build their robot so that it completes the goal for that year’s competition. While their official “build season” is only six weeks long, some teams build replicas of their robot so that they can test out any changes and know how their robot functions the best for the competition. You may wonder why they don’t just make those changes on the official robot. They aren’t allowed to. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics made a rule that they have to put their robot away on a specific day, which they call “bag day,” and the teams can only take it out and work on it for six hours after that day. The teams follow a rule book and game book (that changes yearly) that tells them "'exactly where to go,'" (Jamison 97) or rather what to do in their competition.
Once competitions start, the teams compete for specific awards which can qualify them for the “world” competition in St. Louis towards the end of April each year. Teams strive to get the chairman’s award, which is given to the team that “best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST.” The teams are considered based on how they try to make an impact in their community to help others. Upon winning this award, teams get a bid to Worlds and they get to try to win the award again there.
Each year, more and more teams join first robotics. The teams make their members feel like they are part of something. Everyone contributes in some way, whether by building the robot or taking care of the social aspects. People notice how much robotics can help someone while in high school and after high school, even if they don't go into engineering.
Works Cited
“FIRST Robotics.” FIRST, FIRST,
www.firstinspires.org/. Accessed 30 Apr. 2017.
“FRC Team List.” The Blue Alliance, VEXPRO, www.thebluealliance.com/teams.
Accessed 30 Apr. 2017.
Hauppauge Robotics. “FRC Statistics.” Team358.Org - Robotic Eagles - FIRST® Robotics Competition, 2017, www.team358.org/files/frc_records/index.php. Accessed 29 Apr. 2017.
“KING TeC 2169 Robotics.” KING TeC 2169, 2017,
kingtec2169.com/. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017.
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