Editor’s Note: The following story ran in the March 12 Belleville-Area Independent, but on the afternoon of March 11, after the newspaper was printed, it was decided not to hold the competition as scheduled because of the coronavirus, but to postpone the event to a yet-to-be-determined time.
Students and parents from throughout the region are expected to travel to Belleville on Thursday for this Friday and Saturday’s FIRST Robotics competition at Belleville High School.
The competition, with a Star Wars theme this year, is open to the public without charge, beginning just before 8 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The Van Buren Public Schools will not be in session on Friday to make way for the large number of people attending the competition.
This is the third year the FIRST Robotics contest has been held at BHS.
Eight locations have cancelled their FIRST Robotics competition as of Sunday because of the coronavirus – COVID-19 — and some have postponed competition. On Monday, Van Buren Public Schools’ officials said the BHS competition was still on and FIRST Robotics indicated on its website that the BHS competition was among those that would go on as scheduled.
The Belleville district event will feature 40 teams from across Southeast Michigan, including Team 6615 from BHS, the Belle Voxel Bots, who will compete for the district prize as well as for ranking points which will potentially earn them a berth in a state-wide competition.
The schedule:
Thursday, March 12
• Pit set up starting at 5 p.m.
• Pits close at 10 p.m.
Friday, March 13
• Doors open at 7:50 a.m. (access allowed to building)
• Pits open at 8 a.m.
• Opening ceremonies at 10:30 a.m.
• Match competition from 11 a.m. until approximately 7 p.m., with lunch from 1 to 2 p.m.
• Pits close at 8 p.m. (or one hour after last match of the day)
Saturday, March 14
• Doors open at 7:50 a.m.
• Opening ceremonies at 9 a.m.
• Match competition continues from 9:30 a.m. until about 1 p.m., for lunch
• Playoff rounds begin at about 2 p.m.
• Award presentation at about 5 p.m.
• Pits close at 6:30 p.m. (or one hour after completion of awards ceremony)
The Belleville team looks forward to seeing a large enthusiastic crowd representing the 39 visiting teams and hopes that the residents of the Van Buren Public School District will also come out to cheer on the home team.
FIRST, a national organization, stands for: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Its founder Dean Kamen said, “FIRST is more than robots. The robots are a vehicle for students to learn important life skills. Kids often come in not knowing what to expect — of the program nor of themselves. They leave, even after the first season, with a vision, with confidence, and with a sense that they can create their own future.”
Kamen also is inventor of the Segway human transport.
The competition at BHS is in need of help from parents and anyone else who might be interested. For more information, contact event coordinator Victor DeLibera, [email protected] or volunteer coordinator Jonathan Williams, [email protected] .