Students from the Traverse City Area Public Schools SCI-MA-TECH (SMT) program based at Traverse City Central High School have begun to build their robot for entry in the 2008 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). FRC challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard "kit of parts" and a common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in a series of competitions. The SMT/Central High School FRC team also known as Team #1711 has until February 19th to complete their robot. Team #1711 will compete at the West Michigan Regional at Grand Valley in March 2008.
In this year’s game, robots will race around an oval track knocking down 40" inflated Trackballsand moving them around the track, passing them either over or under a 6'6" overpass. Extra points are scored by robots positioning the Trackballs back on the overpass before the end of the two minute and 15 second match. Team #1711 is working on the robot at Traverse City Central High School Monday through Friday from 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Interested media and citizens are invited to stop by a build session to view the robot build process and progress.
Team #1711 is sponsored through grants and donations from the Traverse Bay Sunrise Rotary Foundation, Team Elmers, Fifth Third Bank, Great Lakes Eye Consultants Peter D. Fedor, M.D., Traverse City Products, Inc., TranTek Automation Corporation, Tellurex Corporation, Grand Traverse Radiologists, PC, Air Way Automation, GM Retirees of Northern Michigan, and the Kennell-Norris, Venditto-Fisher, Mende and Malone families. Mentors for Team #1711 include retired GM engineers and mentors from TranTek Automation Corporation, Thermoelectric Design LLC, and Artec Interiors.
Team #1711 is also running a raffle to raise funds for its team with prizes donated from the Grand Traverse Resort and Grandview Restaurants. First prize, valued at over $900, is a Grand Traverse Resort Package, which includes two nights accommodations and one round of golf. There are two second prizes, which are $50 gift certificates to any of the Grandview Restaurants (310, Bubba’s, or Giovanni’s Roadhouse). A maximum of 200 raffle tickets will be sold. Each ticket is $10.
Please contact SMT Director, John Failor, at 933-3554 or
failorjo@csh.tcaps.net for more information, to schedule a visit, or to purchase raffle tickets.