Howell To Host FIRST Robotics Competition Event Next MonthHowell To Host FIRST Robotics Competition Event Next Month

2/18/14 - The FIRST Robotics Competition will be holding one of its matches in Livingston County for the first time this year, and the robotics team at Howell High School is preparing to compete with a robot of its own. The international competition invites high school teams to design, construct, and program their own robots to accomplish a specific task, which changes every year. This year, the robots will have to move large exercise balls around the court cooperatively while working against competing teams. Although the robotics team at Howell High School only began last year, its mentors convinced the organizers of the competition to hold one of the qualifying matches at Parker Middle School in the spring. More than 1,500 people, including 40 robotics teams, are expected to make an appearance. Kevin Carstensen is a team mentor for the Howell robotics team, and he tells WHMI the students have put thousands of hours of work into their robot. He says the process of building it has taught his students lessons on a number of topics, including engineering, programming, troubleshooting, and even business. Although FIRST requires that the cost of the competing robot be less than $5,000, Howell's team has raised more than $20,000 in local donations. The extra money was used to build a prototype robot, which allowed them to improve and refine the design. The competition at Parker Middle School is one of three that will qualify teams for the state finals and will take place on March 14th and 15th. The state finals will be held in Ypsilanti, leading to the world championships in St. Louis. (TD)