Ask any member of the Oxford robotics team, the RoboCats, how they feel about their upcoming regional competition, and they’ll say ‘confident.?
‘It’s like two extremes,? said senior teammate Michael Brendel, referring to their rookie year. ‘Last year, our robot was barely functioning (at the competition) and this year, we can do everything and then some.?
The RoboCats will hit the Eastern Michigan University’s Convocation Center March 27-29 for the Great Lakes FIRST Regional competition.
Sixty-three teams will crowd the center to show off their engineering skills during a pre-planned game called Overdrive.
The game is played on a large track divided by a fence into a red and blue side. The fence is crossed by an overpass holding large, blue balls, marking the team lines where two three-team alliances race around counterclockwise.
Made up of two scoring periods, the first 15 seconds of play is the Hybrid period in which the robot must move on its own, except for a little direction from the team ‘robocoach.?
The teams are scored on the grabbing and passing of the balls over the finish lines.
When building their robot, the Oxford team used a LEGO model to start and had to make sure it didn’t weigh more than 120 pounds or measure over 28 by 38 inches.
‘We also built an entire working model out of wood just to get an idea of exactly how we had to do it,? said senior teammate Andy Stein, adding that the robot came together really quickly.
‘This year, we really did a lot of work before the season started and we’ve been ahead of schedule,? he said. ‘We have a pretty good robot and we’re pretty confident about our chances this year.?
The regional competition will be from 9 a.m.- 4:45 p.m. on Friday and from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. on Saturday and the center is located at 799 N. Hewitt Rd. in Ypsilanti.
The team would like to thank The Chrysler Foundation and NASA for their sponsorship, as well as local businesses like Wheels USA, Boulder Pointe Golf & Banquet Center, Curtis Floor Covering, Home Depot and Tom’s Hardware for their help.
For more information on the RoboCats, contact them via the district website at www.oxford.k12.mi.us under ‘clubs.?