May 27th, 2024

The Elmira District Secondary School (EDSS) robotics team, 4917 Sir Lancerbot, recently attended the First Robotics Championship in Houston, Texas. The team sent eleven senior student representatives of its 47 student members to Houston.

The First Robotics Competition teaches students valuable STEM and business skills through hands-on learning experiences. The program runs on sponsorship from local companies and mentorship through teachers and industry professionals. Every year, students who participate in First Robotics are given a different game in which to design, build, program, and market a robot for a competition. Students compete with their robot in alliances of three and talk to judges about their robot and team dynamic. Here is what some of the students have to say about their experience on the team.

Hudson

Qualifying for Worlds was incredible! Having the opportunity to meet and work with students from around the world and interacting with many different cultures who all share a passion for technology and making a difference has reminded me that we live in a small world and can find common ground with anyone. As the team Driver, I had the privilege to meet and discuss strategy with other teams, including those from the Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Taiwan, Mexico, China, Turkey, Israel and more.

This is my third year on the Robotics team and first year as Senior Lead on the Build Team. As a student-led team, we have learned how to design, build and program a robot ourselves. My confidence has grown while I develop friendships with students of all ages and backgrounds. You don’t need to know anything to join the team; you just need an attitude to learn. I spend time in the tech workshops, designing parts with CAD, and I especially enjoy strategy sessions within our team and other teams.

Connor

I joined the EDSS robotics team 3 years ago, unaware of the impact it may have on me. I hoped to have enjoyed my experience and gained some skills from it; however, its impact on me was far more influential than just that, including my career goals.

First, I have learned many lifelong skills, such as teamwork, communication, organization, and so much more. As a team leader, I learned how to organize meetings, direct build sessions and lead a successful team. Of course, it didn’t all go as planned, but in those moments, real learning happened. Throughout the season, the robot broke down, and people disagreed. However, rather than being upset about the situation, it was a spark that ignited a growth mindset that encouraged problem-solving, embraced the unknown, and learned from the unfortunate.

Moreover, I learned and enhanced my technical skills in design and mechanical engineering, as well as electrical and software, such as machining parts on a mill or drawing up a schematic for wiring layouts. Our team is student-led and hands-on in design, building, programming, and marketing. These skills will be of immense importance as I embark on post-secondary and into the real working world. I am very grateful for the skills I learned on this team and will rely on them in the future.

Furthermore, my experience on this team was a catalyst for exploring my passion for robotics. I discovered my deep interest in mechanical, electrical, and software engineering, which led to my decision to pursue Mechatronics Engineering next year. My experience on the FIRST Robotics Team helped me earn my early acceptance into top Engineering schools in Ontario.

Additionally, the friendships crafted in this program will last a lifetime. It truly is far more than just robotics.

If you have an opportunity to be involved in FIRST Robotics in any way in the future, I would highly encourage you to pursue such opportunities. It will be far more impactful and influential than you would ever expect and worth your time.

Megan

Being on the EDSS robotics team over the past three years has tremendously benefited me and helped me to grow in many areas. I’ve learned how to work with others in various ways outside the classroom. I have had the opportunity to talk to judges at competitions, making me more comfortable presenting to others. I have had the chance to learn various valuable skills, such as programming, accounting, presenting, and fundraising. This team’s community has impacted my life, given me a community I didn’t have before and has provided long-lasting friendships.

Elijah

I moved to Canada in Grade 9, during the height of the pandemic. I felt I couldn’t click with anyone or anything for a long time. I joined FRC team 4917 in Grade 11 and immediately felt welcomed. I joined the build and software subteams and learned many valuable skills, from learning to code as a team to work with my hands in the machine shop. Not only that, but I also met the most incredible people who have become great friends. Competitions, while occasionally stressful, are incredibly fun. This year, I got to act as the team’s “human player,” which meant I got to impact the game without nearly the amount of pressure as our Driver and Operator who controls the robot.

This year, we did well enough in our regular season to make it to the world championships in Houston, Texas. Our time there was an emotional rollercoaster from our highest highs in going undefeated on Day One to our lowest lows with the breaking down of our bot on Day Two. In conjunction with a trip to NASA, eating authentic Mexican food, playing Catan, visiting closed parks and getting stuck in the hotel elevator, I will never forget that trip!

Brandon

The team has allowed me to grow so much in both skills and as a person. I joined the team at the beginning of grade 10, not knowing what to expect, and I now have the opportunity to have life-changing experiences.

Robotics is only a tiny part of what happens on our team; so much of it is working on yourself and helping others, which creates lifelong friendships. I have gotten closer to many friends and met so many new people through the program. It has allowed me to network with students worldwide who have a shared interest in robotics. Meeting new friends within Canada has been a great experience, but meeting new people from around the world has opened my eyes up so much more.

I love the robotics portion of the team as well. Having the chance to be on the drive team for the robot was very cool to see. I was able to operate the robot and then bring it back into the pits to make sure that nothing was broken. As someone who has only ever worked on the business and marketing side of the team, I found this to be something new that I had never tried before. I enjoyed it so much that I have started to look into engineering programs and hope to help build the robot in the future.

I recommend FIRST Robotics to anyone as it is more than just building robots. It gives opportunities that are once in a lifetime. If anyone can join a team, I encourage them to.

Joshua

I’m Josh, this year’s CAD team leader on Elmira’s FRC team 4917. 2024 is only my second year on the team, but even in that short time, 4917 has become one of my life’s most valuable, memorable, and enjoyable aspects. This season, in particular, has been special to me because it’s been a year of real growth for both the team and myself. We’ve rethought how we approach the build season, aiming to streamline and optimize the design, build, and programming process. As a leader, I got involved with the team on a whole new level, building knowledge and experience that will serve as a foundation for a career path in engineering. If there’s one thing I love the most about FRC, it’s that it makes industry-level engineering accessible to high school students; at the Waterloo competition, a student from the University of Waterloo visited our pits, and he told us that what we were doing was ahead of about half the mechatronics students at the university. That moment, in particular, told me that the experience and opportunity team 4917 gives students like myself is invaluable.

One of the biggest reasons I loved this year so much is that we made it to the FRC World Championship in Houston, Texas. Worlds has to be one of my favourite experiences ever. It was unreal to see the world’s best FRC robots and how they work in person, and I’ve come home super excited to see what the team can do next season. Outside of the competition, we visited some of Houston’s most fantastic attractions, like a locked-up park, a stuck hotel elevator, and the Houston Space Center, if you can count that one as great. The trip was constantly entertaining, and I’ve made friends with people I might have otherwise never taken the time to know. I can’t thank the teachers and mentors who brought us to Houston enough, and I’d like to thank our software mentor, Sam, for helping me build my Lego set on the plane home.

#StudentVoice Series

This article is written by a WRDSB student and is part of the Student Agency and Voice program. Student journalists embody WRDSB’s commitment to creating space for students to tell their stories. They are ambassadors for their peers as they share their personal experiences and stories about their schools and communities in their unique voices.