FORT LORAMIE — During the Fort Loramie boys basketball game against Anna, the Fort Loramie Robotics Club set up a community outreach display. Numerous hours of hard work all put to the test.
FLRC consists of two teams, a First Lego League team for elementary students, and a First Tech Challenge team for high school students. Both are a part of the FIRST program, an acronym that stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.”
Each season, a FIRST team is challenged to design, build, and program a robot to complete point-based missions. Furthermore, they are assessed on their mechanical and electrical design, innovative ideas, and working with their teammates, their competition, and their community. These teams compete against not only local teams, but teams all over Ohio, hoping to qualify for state, nationals and even world championships.
The FLL team builds their robot using lego pieces. The elementary students have a full pre-programmed robot run by itself. On the other hand, the FTC team builds their robot from scratch. They use everything from kits, to designing and printing a piece exactly how they want it. With the help of SolidWorks, their 3-D printer, and Wazer, this is made possible. FTC robot rounds involve part-autonomous and part-driver controlled periods. In addition to three other robots on the game field with them.
Both teams prioritize their core values, as promoted by the FIRST program. These are team morals that are followed in practice, competitions, schools and homelife. For example, gracious professionalism, impact, discovery and innovation.
Additionally to these core values, FLRC members learn many other skills that they can use later in life. Public speaking, research, writing, fundraising and staying organized to name a few.
The STEM-related activities provide educational opportunities for these Fort Loramie students. In the upcoming months, the FLL team will be competing at their regional tournament in Sylvania. The FTC team has three chances to qualify for the state tournament. Their first qualifier is at Van Wert on Feb. 28.
Local residnts can follow along with their journey on their social media forums: Fort Loramie Robotics FTC Team on FaceBook and Fortftc on Instagram.
If you have any questions, email FLRC at [email protected] or check out www.firstinspires.com.
9737- Celia Werner explaining the FLL team’s innovative project to Corynn Eilerman
