The Heartland Regional F.I.R.S.T robotics competition, the first of three that are happening, is being held at Olathe South this year. 

The event is free to attend and open to the public. International teams will be attending as well. Four from China and one from Mexico. 

It will be held on March 14, 15 and 16. 7:45 am to 8 pm, 8 am to 7 pm, and 8 am to 6:30 pm. Thursday is a practice and build day and then Friday and Saturday is when the games are held. 

In this competition, there is a challenge, which is centered around the theme of Deep Space. They have six weeks to build one robot, around four feet tall and 125 pounds. 

The competing teams are not given a template before building their robot. They have to design, build, wire, and program it all by hand. “We pretty much have to guess how to build it to best match the requirements of the competition,” says Carolyn Wilson, junior. 

At the competition, they have to drive the robot, with a remote control. Which they also have to build themselves. 

The robot has to be able to play games that are set up for the competition. “In years past we had to climb a rope, do a pull-up, and place cubes on a eight-foot tall scale,” says Wesley Coats, junior. 

The robot has to have strong enough arms to lift and place a 13 inch diameter kickball.  

The robots are made of mainly aluminum. They are in the week four of build season and “our chasis is complete and waiting for the assembled elevator to be attached,” says Coats. 

The Olathe South robotics team is not competing during this event, they have to focus all of their attention on hosting. This is a huge event and they currently need volunteers to help host. 

“50 people per shift  are needed to make this event run smoothly,” says Wilson. This is the perfect opportunity to get volunteer hours. 

Besides preparing and setting up for this competition, they are working on fundraising. The robotics team is not supplied with any funding from the school, so they do all of their own fundraising. Garmin is one of their biggest sponsors, and they supply the majority of the team’s mentors.

They hold a robotics camp in the summer time, for elementary and middle school age kids. As well as doing a lot of community service.

The week after the competition at south, there will be a similar one held at Rockhurst high school, which they are competing in. The Greater Kansas City Regional competition is on March 21, 22,  and 23. Maddie