After winning the 2007 Rookie All-Star Award at the FIRST Robotics regional competition, the Oxford Robo Cats made their championship debut at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA, April 12-14.
Against teams from 22 other countries, Oxford placed 76th out of the 86 in their division.
‘It was like a huge party, but it was organized,? Junior Jordan Littmann said about the competition.
The Robo Cats were paired up with two other teams at the three-day competition, which formed an ‘alliance.?
During the Rack ‘N? Roll game, which is similar to a Tic-Tac-Toe game, teams had to use their robot’s arm to lift a plastic inner tube over a cylinder to create as many non-diagonal rows as possible.
Although their robot’s mechanical arm wasn’t ready in time for the competition, the team was allowed to play strong ‘defense,? like nudging other robots out of the way to prevent them from scoring.
Junior Jon Fifield said disaster almost struck when their robot, named Robo Cat, almost got caught on a cylinder and almost flipped over, but that the crisis was averted.
‘It takes a lot of patience,? he said.
The FIRST Robotics program is geared toward teaching students organization, design, as well as professionalism and respectful competition ? oh yeah, one more thing.
‘Team work… lots of teamwork,? said Senior Shelli Lindsey. ‘It was a lot of fun, but it was very hard and stressful.?
Helping take some of the stress off of the expense of the trip and supplies were local sponsors the team would like to thank: Oxford High School and the Oxford School Board, Casemer Tool and Machine, Inc., Boulder Pointe Golf Club and Conference Center, Wheels U.S.A., Tool Sport and Sign Co., Tooltech Machinery, Inc., Tom’s Harware, The Oxford Tap, Art and Dick’s Party Store, Cole Carbide Industries, Inc., Meijer, PPF, Inc., Home Depot of Lake Orion and Auburn Hills, SAM’s Club, Boulder Lake’s Golf Club, Wolverine Bronze Co,, NASA, Michigan Department of Education and Delta Technologies Group.
The Robo Cats are already prepping for next year and are still looking for local sponsors, a high school teacher to be their official advisor and for more students to join the team.
‘The word ‘robotics,? a lot of people think nerds automatically, but we’re not nerds,? Littmann said. ‘We’re just a bunch of teenagers who do cool things that end up being a lot of fun.?
The OHS Robotics Team meets every Monday at 7 p.m. in the school’s library.