Do you know what the FIRST Robotics 1073 The Force Team is up to now? Recently, they were alerted of the competition game for this year. The game for 2018  is called “FIRST POWER UP,” which is based off the idea of being trapped inside an arcade game.

The objective is to gain ownership of the three platforms which are called the Switches and Scale on the game field. To gain ownership, the opponent would have to strategically put boxes, which are called power cubes, on the switches or the scale to get points. There will be additional power cubes on the field, including the cube that the players get during the start of the game; the players will able to use any of these cubes throughout the game.

The teams can also put their power cubes in their vault to earn extra points. If they decide to use them, they would be able to take over the switch or the scale or boost up their points. If they get their robot 12 inches off the ground, they automatically get additional points at the end of the match. The alliance, which is three teams working together, that gets the most points will win the competition. Caleb Russell ‘18, former Force team member, said that his experience from the robotics team was fun, interactive, full of creative people, and an all around good time.

HB’s FIRST Robotics Team 1073 the Force Team has been in existence for over 16 years now and has participated in numerous competitions. The 2017 Robotics team members went to the World Championship last year in St. Louis, Missouri. “It was super fun: the experience of going somewhere for almost a week with a bunch of friends solely because we built a good robot … and it was really cool meeting tons of new people,” Cody Gagnon ‘18 commented.

Sue Hay, the founder of the FIRST Robotics team and engineering teacher, explained that being on the robotics team requires all the skills learned in the class at school to build the robot. They don’t expect to get first place this year, but the Robotics team does have a goal to reach. Their goal is to make the top 15 by the end of the New England District Competition in April.

This year, the FIRST Robotics Team is competing in two competitions, one from March 2 to March 4th in Windham at the Granite State Competition, and another competition from March 29 to 31 at University of New Hampshire.If you have free time in your day, come to support your school’s FIRST Robotics team at their competitions.