Madison Robotics 2013 is planning on taking on the world. At least the head coach, Mr. Blackman, plans to. “We’re going to win worlds this year”, he told me. And, at the current rate the team has been improving, it wouldn’t be surprising.

The Robotics team first competed in the 2010–2011 First Tech Challenge and finished without any distinguished accomplishments. The next year, in 2012, they were among the New Jersey State champions and were just short of going on to compete at worlds. This year, they have already almost completed their first prototype, even though it’s only the third week of the season.

Another notable accomplishment of the team is that it has managed to maintain free membership throughout the years. Robotics parts are not cheap. The championship robot from last season cost thousands of dollars to build and hundreds of man-hours to assemble and program. Other teams, such as the “Landroids”, a team of homeschooled students, might charge hundreds of dollars for participation and admittance in order to fund the robot. Thankfully, charitable people and businesses in and around Madison have been kind enough to donate to fund the team every year.

The First Tech Challenge, or FTC for short, consists of multiple challenges in which competing teams may score—challenges that can make programming, building, and piloting the robot extremely difficult. Last year, robots had to be designed to pick up small racquetballs, place them in plastic crates, and then lift the crates to a maximum height by the end of the competition time. This year, teams will have to pick up plastic rings off of a dispenser on a wall, place the rings on a set of pegs arranged in a “tic-tac-toe” order, all while maintaining a size under 18” cubed before each match (robots can extend in-game) and utilizing up to just 8 motors. However, the highest peg is elevated at 44” off the ground. Additionally, teams must be able to lift their “alliance partner” robot off the ground by the end of the match to score maximum points, a feat difficult to accomplish when robots often weigh 40 pounds or more.

However, Madison Robotics is up for the challenge. They have already raised two thousand dollars, along with receiving a large school grant. They are planning on running a charity on Bottle Hill Day as well, so be sure to stop by for a chance to drive some robots yourself as well as see our larger contenders.