Huntington Robotics team wins state title

The Huntington County 4-H Robotics Team 1501 T.H.R.U.S.T. are Indiana Cham­pions and advanced to the FIRST Champi­onships in Houston, Texas.

Huntington County 4-H Robotics won their first State Championship in 20 years as a team on April 7.

Team T.H.R.U.S.T. with Harrison Boiler Robotics from West Lafayette and suPUR­DUEper

Robotics from Indianapolis advanced from the preliminaries as the fifth seed in a double elimination tournament for the state championship.

The final went to a tie breaker third match that the team won 134 – 109.

As state champions the 3-team alliance earns an automatic spot in the FIRST Championship in

Houston.

Hosted by FIRST, FIRST Championship is a culminating, international event for our youth robotics competition season and an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math (STEAM) for our community as we prepare young people for the future.

The 2024 FIRST Championship is presented by BAE Systems.

Starting with the game announce­ment on January 6, 2024, teams have been designing, prototyping, fabri­cating, manufactur­ing, and program­ming 125-pound robots that compete in a basketball court-sized field.

This year’s game, Crescendo Presented by HASS involves collecting “notes” and placing them in different locations on the field.

To end the game, the robot is then required to climb a chain onto the “stage”.

Crescendo is a music-themed game.

The robot and imagery for the team worked off this theme naming the robot Thunderstruck, using speakers and guitars in their design elements and even distributing gui­tar picks with a team logo and Spotify link to the song Thunderstruck.

FIRST Championship involves over 600 teams from around the world compet­ing in a 3-day competition in Houston.

This is the eighth time Huntington County 4-H Robotics has advanced to the World Championship and their first State Championship.

Their best finish was in 2016 when they won the Archimedes Division and fin­ished as a Top 8 team in the world.

Combining the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and tech­nology.

FIRST Robotics Competition is the ultimate Sport for the Mind.

High-school stu­dent participants call it “the hardest fun you’ll ever have.”

Under strict rules, limited resources, and an intense six-week time limit, teams of students are chal­lenged to raise funds, design a team ‘brand,’ hone teamwork skills, and build and program indus­trial size robots to play a difficult field game against like- minded competi­tors.

It’s as close to real-world engi­neering as a stu­dent can get. Volunteer profes­sional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team.

Students partici­pating in FIRST are eligible to apply for over $80 million dollars in scholar­ships from leading universities, col­leges, and compa­nies.

Since its begin­ning, FIRST has significantly improved students’ attitudes towards math, science, graphic design, marketing, and teamwork.

Students who participate show increased interest in pursuing intern­ship and employ­ment opportunities in science and engi­neering.