FIRST Stronghold is finally here!

On Saturday, our social lives ended and our dreams began. To be slightly less dramatic, Saturday was kickoff! Now, for the next six weeks, we obsess over strategies, perfect our presentations, and build our bot. To go with tank drive, or not to go with tank drive? To use pneumatics, or to rely on gears? Should we use a defense to destroy all defenses, or do we build a bot that shoots 100% all the time?! These are the questions we ask ourselves. In case you haven’t seen the release video, here it is!

Release Video Link

For those of you who like to read words, here are words!

The medieval themed game, FIRST STRONGHOLD, is played by two alliances of three robots on a 27 ft. by 54 ft. field. Each match is two minutes and 30 seconds long. Robots operate using pre-programmed instructions for the first 15 seconds of each match, and then drivers control the robots for the remainder of the match. The object of STRONGHOLD is for robots to work together to gain points by crossing various defenses across the field, throwing balls into goals in the opponent’s tower to ‘weaken’ it, and then climbing up and ‘capturing’ that tower. The defenses are obstacles that change each match and pose different challenges to robots such as opening a gate, crossing over ramps, lifting a drawbridge, and several more.

Doesn’t that sound awesome?! We think it sounds awesome! So now, for the next six weeks, we are encompassed in robot design, strategy, fabrication, and practice. We learn skills that we do not learn in school, such as weighing the importance of one strategy or apparatus over the other. We are taught to think outside the box and to experiment. We are taught to be free thinkers, and self-motivated. We are taught to believe in what we can do, and what we can build. These are the things that FIRST robotics teaches us, and we’re grateful.

So, are you excited with us?!

-Student Blogger KT