Local Robotics Teams to Kick Off New Year Together

On Saturday, January 7, approximately 100 high school students from three schools will attend a kickoff at New Heights in Portsmouth in anticipation of 2017’s upcoming FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) season. Participating schools include Portsmouth High School, Dover High School and St. Thomas Aquinas.

“Even though we compete against these teams throughout the year, we also help each other out at competitions,” said Wayne Moulton, who facilitates the robotics program at New Heights in partnership with Portsmouth High School. “It made sense to all of us to meet up and brainstorm together.”

Kickoff marks the beginning of the FRC design and build season. Teams have the opportunity to meet at local Kickoffs to compare notes, make friends, learn the game, and get geared up for the competition season. Students at the Seacoast Kickoff event will watch the official live stream, get to know each other, and share ideas for the upcoming season.

“Kickoff reveals the game and rules for the season, too” added Moulton. “It also starts the 6-week clock to build, design and program a robot to specifications to compete in the game.”

Tim Mallard, who helps mentor Dover Shockwave #4546, the FRC team at Dover, expressed enthusiasm at the opportunity to bring the different teams together.

“Dover Shockwave has wanted to do something like this for years, but it just never got off the ground for one reason or another,” he said. “What could be more fun than watching the kickoff with fellow robo-geeks and building new friendships and exchanging ideas?”

He also expressed enthusiasm for an evolving working relationship between the Seacoast teams, which has resulted in the formation of the FRC Seacoast Alliance.

“Over the last season, we invited Portsmouth and New Heights’ team—The Wire Clippers #5902—up to Dover and our students really had a lot of fun,” he said. “We have continued this relationship throughout the year and through competition. It is really nice to have a friend in the pits.”

At the kickoff, St. Thomas Aquinas will be represented by students on the team, Robosaints #1307.

Echoing sentiments expressed by Mallard, Moulton added that FRC would not be possible without support from the community. Sponsors of New Heights’ Robotics program include Unitil, DoD STEM, Newburyport Five Cents Saving Bank, Beswick Engineering, Portsmouth Rotary, and Daystar Computer Services.

“FRC is a community and it is growing —and I cannot express my gratitude enough to our sponsors and the other teams on the Seacoast,” said Moulton. “We all want our teams to have an incredibly successful 2017 season and the Alliance will help achieve that.”

The 2017 STEAMworks Seacoast Kickoff will take place at New Heights in Portsmouth from 9:30 am to 4 pm. The event will be closed to the public.

To learn more about FRC, visit www.firstinspires.org. For more information or to get involved in FRC at New Heights, visit www.newheightsonline.org.