Robotics teams Robomos and Robotowatomi, from Escanaba and Hannahville respectively, focus as their robots approach the “speaker” during Friday’s First in Michigan District Escanaba Event. The alliance formed between these two teams and the Bark River Bronconaughts won their first match of the competition. (Escanaba Daily Press

ESCANABA — Escanaba High School buzzed with activity, moving parts, music and teamwork Friday as the first day of competition began for robotics teams from around the Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower participating in the FIRST in Michigan District Escanaba Event, presented by Highline. Matches and an awards ceremony continue into the evening today.

FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) challenges teams around the world made up of high schoolers — often mentored by graduates and others with useful knowledge and experience — to practice engineering, programming and other relevant skills to build and drive robots to complete given tasks. Each year, a new game is unveiled, and the thousands of teams across 31 countries all must work within given parameters and with the same objective.

It’s been just two months since FRC presented the rules for “Crescendo,” the 2024 game. During matches, six teams play at a time and two alliances, each made up of three individual teams, compete against one another to score points. There are a few ways points can be earned. Crescendo is music-themed, so game play reflects this. The object is to get orange rings referred to as “notes” into structures called “speakers” and “amps” along the sides of the field or “onstage” in the middle. Matches are just two-and-a-half minutes long and include a 15-second autonomous period — wherein programmed robots drive themselves — before a second phase allows drivers to remotely operate their rbots.

The Wolverine Circuit Breakers, Team 7782 from Mid Peninsula in Rock, were in high spirits after winning their first match, which went “better than expected,” according to Alexander Anderson.

“Everything worked like we hoped it would,” said Bradly VanDamme. “A couple kinks to iron out, but for the most part, everything worked.”

Both Anderson and VanDamme are on the drive team.

The Mid Pen team said that one challenge they faced during the build process was figuring out how to transfer notes from the pickup point at the base of the robot up to a secondary level from which they are shot. The robot manages to suck a note in with rapidly-spinning wheels, and then laser sensors detect when intake is successful, triggering the machine to flip open and slide into position to shoot.

To aim, a limelight on the Circuit Breakers’ bot reads a QR code on the speaker.

“So then we can do some math and figure out the angle that we need this at,” explained Anderson. “We even have a little equation cooked up, so we know exactly like, ‘okay, for this far, this needs to be this angle,’ and boom — just shoot it right up in.”

Teams may have the same ultimate goal — or not, depending on how they intend to earn points — but they encounter different struggles. The Robotowatomi — Team 5702, registered from Wilson and made up of students from Hannahville — said one of their biggest frustrations was in creating a new chassis. They’d had three or four built prior to this year and were hoping to revisit a crab-walking style they were comfortable with before learning that it didn’t meet Crescendo’s regulations.

FIRST challenges students to exercise a variety of abilities. On the technical side, there are drivers, programmers and human players, but teams also need artists, scouts, and marketing members. Working together, problem-solving and communication are all essential.

Shuang Gao, student coach for the Robotowatomi, said that she’s behind her team’s strategizing. That involves coordinating with her team and others, plus developing alternate plans if something goes amiss on the field.

During the competition, judges have eyes on more than just active game play. They make the rounds in the pit, speaking with all the teams — at this particular event in Escanaba, there are 39 — and make the difficult decisions around the distribution of awards, of which there are several. Taken into consideration is everything from robot attributes to community outreach.

FRC is about students finding their footing and developing hard and soft skills. To that end, a number of volunteers are also involved.

University of Michigan grad student Jiawei Chen, who was manning the machine shop in the pit to aid any students with mid-competition fixes on Friday, belongs to the FIRST Alumni and Mentors Network at Michigan. Chen and a few others from the collegiate organization drove up from Ann Arbor Thursday evening to offer assistance in Escanaba both Friday and Saturday.