North Robotics Soars at FIRST Robotics Competition

%28L%29+The+team+at+Dalton+with+their+creativity+award+%28left+to+right%29+Jacob+Nickels%2C+Angel+Mercado%2C+Logan+Swafford%2C+Jason+Gay%2C%28Coach%29+Jodie+Marshall%2C+Noah+Davis%2C+Ryan+Oswalt%2C+Radhika+Raja%2C+Eric+Laurin+and+Chase+Frye.+%28R%29+The+team+at+Columbus+with+the+award+winning+robot+%28middle%29%2C+Ramya+Raja%2C+%28Left+to+Right%29%2C+Chase+Frye%2C+Nick+Fornek%2C+Logan+Swafford%2C+Jacob+Nickels%2C+Noah+Davis+and+Micah+Davis.+

(L) The team at Dalton with their creativity award (left to right) Jacob Nickels, Angel Mercado, Logan Swafford, Jason Gay,(Coach) Jodie Marshall, Noah Davis, Ryan Oswalt, Radhika Raja, Eric Laurin and Chase Frye. (R) The team at Columbus with the award winning robot (middle), Ramya Raja, (Left to Right), Chase Frye, Nick Fornek, Logan Swafford, Jacob Nickels, Noah Davis and Micah Davis.

Ramya Raja, Staff Writer

This past weekend, on March 16- 18, North Forsyth’s robotics team competed at the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) in Columbus, Georgia. Every year, FIRST, a robotics company dedicated to providing opportunity and support in the engineering career field to students in elementary, middle and high schools, hosts a game for students to construct robots that participate in the game. This year, North Forsyth High was able to attend two of such competitions, taking place between March 9 and 11 and March 16 and 18.

The 2017 game is called Steam Works, in which the objective of the game is for a robot to add enough fuel and gears to the steam ship so that it will be ready for lift off. Teams score in two ways, burning fuel in the boiler or placing gears in their respective places.

During their first competition in Dalton, GA, nine members attended, placed in 2nd place during qualification rounds, was awarded with the creativity award in design, and succeeded in making it until the quarter final round.

During their second competition in Columbus, GA, seven members attended, placed in 14th during qualification rounds, wore squid hats the entirety of the competition, and also made it to the quarter final round.

The North Robotics team has qualified for the FRC state competition during the week of spring break. The team had scored enough district points over the course of the two competitions that the team is ranked within the top 28 teams eligible to go to state. North’s robotics team members are excited to be attending their first FRC state competition.