Martin Motion Robotics Team competes at FIRST world championship

40 teams competed at the Central Illinois Regional, where Martin Motion finished with a rank of 11, serving as captain of alliance number eight. Despite being eliminated from the playoffs in the quarterfinals round, Martin Motion cheered on fellow robotics teams and was excited to win the Imagery Award in honour of Jack Kamen. This award celebrates attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetic integration of machine and team appearance.

In Idaho, 27 teams attended, including a team from Mexico. Finishing with a rank of nine and serving as captain of alliance number six, Martin Motion’s robot suffered a competition-ending electrical failure just minutes before the start of their playoff match, forcing the team to withdraw from the competition and select a substitute to compete in its place. The team ended up being eliminated from the playoffs, but due to winning the prestigious Engineering Inspiration Award, Martin Motion advanced to the world championship. The Engineering Inspiration award recognises outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school or organisation and community. Adding to the excitement of making it to the world championship, Martin Motion’s trip was sponsored by NASA, which paid for the team’s registration fee.

This marked Martin Motion’s second consecutive trip to the FIRST championship event in its four years of existence, joining more than 400 of the top robotics teams. A kickoff celebration was held on Ford Field, where students and mentors interacted with members of other championship-caliber teams from near and far. Students were also able to attend daily conference sessions geared toward further developing the robotics programme offered to area schools and communities. The Detroit Cobo Center hosted over 17 000 students and 25 000 spectators for the pinnacle of the 2019 FIRST Robotics Competition season. The competition was a great experience for all students and a memorable finale for the nine graduating seniors. The Martin Motion team was able to overcome a programming error to showcase the robot’s world-class climbing ability, finishing the event ranked as a top 50 team in its division.

Students from Alwood, Annawan, Bureau Valley, Cambridge, Galva, Geneseo, Kenwanee, Stark County, and Wethersfield made up the Martin Motion team. Martin Engineering has stated that it is a proud sponsor of Martin Motion and enjoys providing opportunities for students to learn more about STEM subjects. By helping to inspire students and ignite these academic principles, the company hopes to see an increase in young people pursuing careers in STEM-related fields.

With the help of sponsors and other local businesses and supporters, Martin Motion is able to operate as a cost-free programme to all students, allowing students to have the same level of opportunity and engagement, regardless of their financial situation.

In addition to focusing on STEM subjects, the robotics programme encourages socialisation among students from several area schools, as well as robotics teams all across the world. FIRST Robotics provides an outlet and opportunities to socialise with people with similar interests that they would not usually cross paths with.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/21052019/martin-motion-robotics-team-competes-at-first-world-championship/