When asked what sports they play, most high school students typically respond “football,” “baseball,” “basketball,” or “soccer.” I, however, get to respond with something much more interesting: “robotics.”

The sport I am referring to is the FIRST Robotics Competition, a high school level competitive robot building competition. Teams from around the world, 1,808 to be exact, compete against each other every year in a world wide challenge that culminates at the Championship held in Atlanta, Georgia.

I first started competing with the only FRC team in Grand Rapids, Creston High School’s robotics team, but eventually several members and I began looking into forming our own team closer to where we lived. In late October of 2009, those of us who lived in the Forest Hills, Ada, and Cascade areas of Grand Rapids decided to form the COMETS (Creating Outstanding Minds Embracing Technology and Science) only a couple months before the 2010 season began.

This year our challenge was to build a robot that could play a game called Breakaway basically a mixture of soccer and steeplechase, where robots competed against other robots in games of three vs. three. With the help of many local area sponsors, and great mentors (local engineers, programmers, and businessmen who guide team members in their efforts), we were able to build a highly competitive robot in the six weeks we were given. In fact, we won the West Michigan District event, placed 20th in the state, and won our division in the Championship. Not too bad for a rookie team.

But the most important part of the season was definitely not our win/loss record. It was the fact that students learned new skills in CAD and metal fabrication, programming, web design, 3D animation, and marketing. Just as important is the fact that students experienced how much fun science and technology can be, and built partnerships throughout our community (in fact, it was through Atomic’s sponsorship of local area teams that I first became aware of their internship program).

However, it’s easy to say that in retrospect.

In the three years that I have been involved with robotics, I’ve had seasons where the team has lost almost every single match, as well as seasons (recently) where we did incredibly well. But in all honesty, I only remember a handful of matches we played. What I do remember is the important stuff.

For example, I remember how in 2008 I scoured the Internet and Home Depot to find a material that would trigger the robot’s photoeyes when our ‘bot’s elevator passed them. I remember in 2009 when the FRC switched from a PIC based microprocessor to the powerPC based cRIO from National Instruments, and how I had to learn a new, object oriented language that came with it. I also remember how this year the other programmers and I wrote multi-threaded Java software so our robot could efficiently manage user input and a live camera feed.

The FRC creates an environment where being interested in science and technology is alright. That environment then goes on to encourage problem solving, creativity, and a strong team spirit. For me, this environment gives me an outlet where I can learn and create with people who have the same interests as I do. I could go on, but I think that you get the idea: this robotics competition is actually much more than just a sport.