Though they’re in their off-season, the Bemidji High School FIRST robotics team will be attending the Northern Minnesota Robotics Conference Championship in Upsala, Minn. on Friday.
Hart District Robotics Team Perseveres In Virtual Competition Amid COVID-19
The Project 691 Robotics Team in the William S. Hart Union High School District has continued to challenge and build the skills of their team despite the obstacles presented to them during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Project 691 Robotics Team is a robotics team that encompasses high school students from all over the Santa Clarita Valley. The program gives students opportunities to experience real-world engineering through competitive robotics with annual competitions, team officials said.
With the unpredictable shakeup of COVID-19, Project 691 has had to make some necessary adjustments.
“We’re on a wild ride; it’s been a vast change,” said Connor Miller, a student at Academy of the Canyons who has been a part of the 691 team since his freshman year. “It’s a completely different forte now. I think students who return to in-person robotics after this virtual year are going to be shell-shocked.”
The Valley’s For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics teams had their robots built and ready to compete in early 2020, but coronavirus hit in March and canceled the season.
Now, the teams already have the robots from last year ready to go, but received word earlier this month that there will be no in-person competitions.
Rather, there will be challenges and presentations that each team will record and submit for judging.
FIRST Robotics aims to have teams construct a robot to solve real-world problems with movement of the robot. Teams use technology skills in their process to create their robots and solutions through brainstorming.