By Daniel Carpenter
Special to the Clarkston News

INDEPENDENCE TWP. — The Clarkston FTC Robotics program has just wrapped up an incredible season. Approximately 50 students from Sashabaw Middle School and Clarkston Junior High, spanning grades sixth to eighth, dedicated the past four months to building robots for this year’s FIRST Tech Challenge competition, Centerstage.
In Centerstage, alliance pairings of teams used their robots in collaboration to place hexagon-shaped game pieces called “pixels” on a slanted backdrop, launch paper airplane drones, and fully suspend their robot off the ground by the end of the match. FIRST robotics principles emphasize gracious professionalism (“Doing your best work while treating others with respect and kindness”) and Coopertition (“Competing while assisting and enabling others whenever possible”).
At the end of the season, the Technados qualified for the 2024 FIRST Championship (equivalent of a world championship event), happening April 17-20 in Houston, Tex.
Clarkston FTC Robotics fielded a total of six teams this year: ChickenBots, SashaBRAWLERS, Clarkston Robowolves, Technados, Hyper Mechs, and Electric Mayhem. Each team comprised a mix of veteran and rookie members. The overarching goal of their robotics program is to ignite creativity, develop problem-solving skills, enhance communication and social skills, and foster teamwork.
The successful season concluded with three out of the six Clarkston teams earning their spot in the Michigan State Championships event at Macomb Community College. The SashaBrawlers, Clarkston Robowolves, and Technados were among 72 teams from southeast Michigan vying for a chance to be recognized as one of Michigan’s top teams. All three teams advanced to the elimination bracket, with the Technados emerging victorious and winning the overall event championship.
According to ftcstats.org, the SashaBrawlers and Technados, alongside their alliance partner, the Vibranium Vikings from Van Hoosen Middle School in Rochester Hills, currently hold a “Top 10 Scores” world record of 257 points. The season was not solely about scoring the most points. Other teams secured other accolades, such as Electric Mayhem receiving second place in the Design Award category. Additionally, each team left a positive impression when interacting with judges.
Teams also explored with various STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) activities, including field trips to industry professionals like FANUC, participation in a hands-on event at the Oakland University Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality labs, and a tour of the Valiant TMS robotics department. Technados and Electric Mayhem collaborated on a community outreach STEAM showcase, teaching children about origami technology and conducting a “fail forward” engineering catapult workshop. The drive teams showcased the robots on a half field and allowed attendees to test them out.
The teams are set to continue the year with off-season activities. They will offer mini workshops for current and future robotics students, covering topics such as CAD, 3D printing, programming, gear-train models, and more.
Additionally, the teams plan to host STEAM events at various Clarkston elementary schools to encourage student participation in STEAM-related curriculum.

PHOTO: The Technados robotics team will head to the 2024 FIRST Championship April 17-20 down in Houston, Tex. Photo: Joe Brandon