Team members are (from left) John Yim, Drew Wilson, Justin Garrity, Ian Stinson, Angela Gamez, Maya Bisset, Celeste Lohman, Alyssa Ordway and Alex McShan.
The weekend of Feb. 28-March 1, Dripping Springs High School will host a district FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. A total of 32 teams from across Texas will compete, including many from central Texas, schools as far away as McAllen and Lubbock, and the DSHS robotics team known as “The Spring Konstant.” Points accumulated at district meets determine state qualification in robotics.
This year’s Star Wars-themed competition, called “Infinite Recharge,” features large, quick-moving, student-created robots. Each school brings one robot to the competition. After the initial qualification rounds, the top eight teams continue through the final elimination rounds.
To prepare for this competition, teams of up to 20 students work as a team to raise funds by reaching out to the community, designing a team brand, and building and programming industrial-sized robots to be used in competition. They must complete these steps in six weeks using limited resources under a defined set of rules. Professionals in the STEM field serve as mentors, volunteering to guide the team through the process.
The FIRST Robotics Competition hosted by DSHS will be held at multiple campus locations: the competition gym, A gym, B gym and library. Action will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free, and concessions will be available.
FIRST was founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology.
