First Robotics released its First Tech Challenge (FTC) kickoff on September 9. This marks the start of a new robotics season, and Pleasant Valley’s teams are starting the process of creating a new robot.
The FTC kickoff consists of a video showing off this year’s game and a multitude of rules that go along with it. Each year, First creates a brand new game full of different features, but many things stay consistent with previous years.
The game is played with a robot that can fit inside a 12” by 12” by 12” cube, and the robot moves around in a 12’ by 12’ playing field. Each team’s robot is unique and can be customized to complete whatever task is at hand.
This year’s game has four robots in the ring at the same time, all trying to place hexagonal blocks onto a board while avoiding obstacles on the field. Teams can choose to complete other objectives such as throwing a paper airplane or hanging a robot from the obstacles at the end of the game to earn points.
Aside from the game, FTC has multiple awards that teams can win in order to win meets. Some of these awards include presenting aspects of a robot’s design to judges, while other awards include doing work in the community. Pleasant Valley teams work on outreach by doing activities like holding summer robotics camps for kids or organizing car meets to raise money.
Pleasant Valley currently has two FTC teams, along with a First Robotics Competition team, which uses a much larger robot for a separate game. Both FTC teams, Everything That’s Radical and Deviation From the Norm, have begun strategizing for upcoming competitions. Many members are enrolled in the robotics class at PV, and the teams put in extra work during meetings outside of school on Tuesdays and Sundays.
Compared to previous years, this FTC game is fairly complex and will be a challenge for PV’s teams. “We’re trying to figure out new designs for our robot while still trying to leave designs from last year,¨ explained Everything That’s Radical member Johnny Hawks.
Even with these new challenges, both teams have confidence that they can dominate in competitions due to their level of experience when it comes to robotics.
“Last year, we were undefeated at the state championship for FTC, and we won the black division, but got beat in the overall championship…. In 2016 and 17 when I was at West we won the world championship,” explained robotics coach and industrial technology teacher Jason Franzenburg.
Similar to many sports, robotics has competitions throughout the season that lead up to a state meet, and winning teams at state have the chance to advance to the world championship.
Whether they win these competitions or not, robotics members learn a lot throughout the season. Teams have to build communication and organization skills, and there are many ways of contributing to the robot, such as programming, designing robot parts in CAD or welding the robot together.
Deviation From the Norm member Taylor Garrison experienced first-hand how robotics gave her a chance to learn and explore her interests. “It gives you an opportunity to learn hands on. I plan to study either aerospace engineering or civil engineering, and robotics relates to it because for aerospace engineering I want to be building rockets and working on them. Robotics gives me an idea of how to CAD and the logistics of building complex systems,” expressed Garrison.
Robotics members at PV have high expectations for the upcoming season. While members have goals to go to state or even world championship, many members are just excited to see more involvement in robotics and hope to see younger students carry on the team for years to come.
