Returning from a restful winter holiday break, Kent Robotics received news about the game for this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition. Titled “Recycle Rush,” the game is a challenging one which will sure put all teams to the test.

Each team will have 6 weeks to build a robot which can pick up and stack totes on scoring platforms, put pool noodles (“litter”) inside recycling containers, and put the containers on top of scoring stacks of totes. Along with these robot actions, human players can attempt to throw noodles across the field to gain 4 points for each noodle left in the opposing alliance’s work zone.

This year’s game will also allow for alliances between teams that want to pool their totes and stack them on a step dividing the field to each gain 20 points.

The team has spent the past couple of weeks understanding the game and brainstorming ideas. Team advisor Mr. Austin has broken down the building process into 4 components: strategy, capabilities, features and mechanism. The team agreed to focus primarily on the stacking of totes and bins, as our strategy and robot’s capabilities, because they accounted for the most points. For features, they decided to use a “bakery rack” approach to stack up the totes.

The team has already built multiple prototypes for potential parts of the robot and testing out how they work. Coaches Mr. Austin and Ms. Hobeika both agree that they have made great, meaningful progress in the last few weeks and are in good shape to be ready for the FIRST competition in March.