Black Frog Robotics - Promoting FIRST and STEM in Community

The United States has developed as a global leader, in large part, through the genius and hard work of its scientists, engineers, and innovators. In a world that’s becoming increasingly complex, where success is driven not only by what you know, but by what you can do with what you know, it’s more important than ever for our youth to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to solve through problems, gather and evaluate evidence, and make sense of information. These are the types of skills that students learn by studying science, technology, engineering, and math—subjects collectively known as STEM.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. The mission of FIRST is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting Mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. FIRST Robotics is a competitive sport where “coopertition,” “gracious professionalism,” and community outreach are key components.

Black Frog Robotics, a FTC – First Technical Challenge team from Novi Middle School is one such team. They have been working hard with the help of their mentors, designing, building, and programming, creating game strategy, documenting and testing their robot to compete in competitions. The 2015/16 game, FIRST® RES-QSM, is modeled after actual rescue situations faced by mountain explorers all over the globe. Played by two alliances of two robots each, robots will score points by: “resetting” Rescue beacons; delivering Rescue Climbers to a shelter; parking on the mountain; and parking in the Rescue beacon repair zone or floor goal.

This season, they have already participated in two Regional events where they qualified for Michigan State competition by winning the Inspire award. At the Michigan State competition held at Battle Creek on 19th of Dec, 2015, they won the Michigan State Championship by winning the Inspire award. The INSPIRE Award is the most prestigious FTC award, and is given to the team that truly embodies the ‘challenge’ of the FTC program. They will be participating in the Super Regional competition at Cedar Rapids, Iowa to be held on March 17 - 19, 2016.

Through community outreach Black Frogs are constantly showcasing the FIRST program to students, sponsors and educators bridging their knowledge to a new group of potential participants. They will be reaching out to the students in Novi area by demoing at Novi Meadows science fair on Feb 24th. Please visit to learn what is FTC, what to expect and how to create your own teams. For more information on their team and demos, please free check out their website at http://blackfrogrobotics.weebly.com/ and their Facebook page for future demos.