Staff photo / Bob Coupland ... Girard High School sophomore London Seno, 16, gets help from mentor Rick Plant of Girard with assembling a robot for the FIRST Robotics season. This is the 25th year of competing for the Girard Robocats.

FIRST Robotics teams from local school districts are in full gear and preparing for a new season.

The challenge for the 2024 For Inspiration and Recognizing of Science and Technology season was revealed earlier this month, and teams have started designing and building their robots. Under strict rules, limited time and resources, robotics teams made up of high school students from across the Mahoning Valley must build industrial-sized robots to play a difficult field game in alliance with other teams.

They also must meet fundraising goals, design a team brand and advance respect and appreciation for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) within their local community.

The challenge this year features large foam musical rings that have to be placed in specific slots by the robot. The robot also is required to hang at one part of the challenge to earn extra points.

Advisers said it is like playing horseshoes and getting the rings on a tower.

GIRARD ROBOCATS

The Girard Robocats Team 379 is starting its 25th year of competition.

Ashraf Hadi, an adviser for the Robocats, said 37 team members are participating.

“We meet after school and on Saturdays to work on the robot,” Hadi said.

The team will compete in Cleveland and Pittsburgh this year.

“The students have been busy since early January and are ready to see the season move forward,” Hadi said.

London Seno, 16, a sophomore team member, said the mentors have been helpful in providing guidance on designing and building a robot.

WARREN ELITE 48

ELITE 48 from Warren G. Harding High School is competing in its 27th season this year.

Gene Mach, a Harding team adviser and former member, said the teams have six weeks to design and build a robot for competitions in February and March.

“We have new team members this year and a good number of team members coming back from last year,” said Mach, who was on the team in 2004 and is now a teacher at Harding.

“I look forward to working with new team members and seeing how they grow. You can see the difference as they go from freshmen to seniors,” he said.

Mach added that many team alumni return to help as advisers.

Greg Christman, who has been a mentor for 25 years, said “I love helping where I can and seeing how the team does with the robot they build.”

“I saw what this program did for my kids and I want to help the teams do well. You can see how the kids grow being part of robotics,” said Frank Shively, a volunteer mentor for 14 years.

He said 4,700 teams worldwide take part in the FIRST Robotics program.

The Harding team will compete in Cleveland, Cincinnati and New York this year.

Frank Bosak, a team adviser, said Harding, like other schools, has a special room where team members can work on their robot.

Bosak, who was a team member when he was a student at Harding and is now an information technology staff member, said he can see how each student is expected to play a vital role in planning and building a robot.

HOWLAND TIGER ROBOTICS

Howland High School has a newer team in its third year of competition. It has 29 students signed up.

Team adviser David Siegfried said Harding has been helping mentor Howland’s team.

“The new game is different from last year. We had many seniors on the team last year who have graduated,” Siegfried said, noting five seniors graduated last year.

Jeremy Siegfried, a team mentor, said new freshmen team members are ready to take on the challenge at competitions.

Sharon Siegfried, another team mentor, said the freshmen like the opportunity to be part of the team.

“They (Harding) are the next school over and have allowed us to use their machine shop,” she said. “They share with us what they can to help attack the challenge.”

The Howland team will compete in March at the Buckeye Regional in Cleveland.

Team advisers said traveling costs are a main expense for teams, with sponsors and booster groups often helping. School districts help pay part of the costs as well.

Organizers said a bus trip to a competition in New York can cost $4,000.