FIRST Robotics Competition brings thousands to Western New England University

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Robots took over Springfield on Saturday and Sunday, as this year’s FIRST Robotics Game took place at Western New England University.

“The entire goal of the organization is to make students get really excited about robotics, and STEM, the way they might get excited about baseball, football, any sport,” Sam Spain, the director of communications and advancement for New England FIRST told us.

Established in 1992, The FIRST Robotics Competition Attracts thousands of the brightest young minds in robotics and engineering, to test their talents in a series of games and challenges.

Western New England Industrial Engineering Department Chair Christian Salmon explained how the 36 teams are made to both compete and collaborate across the two-day event.

“The way it works is it’s designed with both collaborative and competitive, because you can earn individual points for your individual team, but you can also earn alliance points for your blue and red alliance. So, it kind of forces these teams to figure out how to balance those two categories,” Salmon said.

We spoke with one of the teams finding that balance, ‘The Polybotz,’ who highlighted how even though the goal is to create the most efficient, calculated machine, it’s the human element that gets their gears turning.

“We are a completely Black and Brown team, so we’re very representative of our community and it really shows in the ways that we work together, because we do really work as if we’re more of a family,” participant Izabella Martinez shared.

Salmon emphasized that no matter which bots lead the charge, it’s the iron these engineers sharpen internally, that makes these games so valuable.

“If you watch the event and see the skillsets they’re developing not just in robotics, in programming, but in team development, leadership, marketing, planning, design, these are the students that are gonna be leading the industry in the future.”

Although the competition finished up this weekend, the hope is that these events can make an impact for years to come.

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