Katie Robertson, left, joins the Sage Robotics team from Sage Hills School, as they work on their robot in the pits during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competition at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Triton Tech team from Corona Del Mar High School controls their robot during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competition inside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Robots Los Alamitos High School, left, and East High School in Denver, try to throw balls into a hub in the center of the area inside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Robots from Corona Del Mar High School, left, and Capo Unified School District, work to climb parallel bars during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competition inside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Members of the Sultans team from Santa Ana High School work to get their robot operational in the pits during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competition at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mark Sosares, from HIGHROLLERS team from Cimarron-Memorial High School in Las Vegas, holds on to his team’s controllers during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competition inside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Robots try to throw balls into a hub in the center of the area during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competition inside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Robots from Diamond Bar High School, left, and Portola High School, right, try to throw balls into a hub in the center of the area during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competitioninside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Triton Tech team from Corona Del Mar High School controls their robot during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competition inside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Harrison Kim, left, and Naomi Uehara, from The Vitruvian Bots team from Da Vinci Science High School, work on their robot in the pits during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competition inside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Mythic Mechanix team from Irvine High School, David Culciar, left, John Behrendt, center, and Faizan Bodlo, don narwal hats as they control their robot, Twilight Sparkle, during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competition inside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Vitruvian Bots team from Da Vinci Science High School controls their robot during practice at the Orange County Regional FIRST Robotics Competition inside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Robots try to throw balls into a hub in the center of the area inside The Hanger Building at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. 1,500 competitors, in 42 teams, are competing in the FIRST — or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Orange County regionals. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Robots built by students from around the region were competing to see which design was quickest and most accurate at getting balls into a central basket and then returning to a home base.
More than 40 teams, including some 1,500 competitors, have been participating in the nail-biting matches this week at the OC Fair & Event Center; the competition culminates Saturday, March 12. This is one of 58 regional competitions of FIRST – or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – and feeds district and then national championships.
The students had to engineer a robot that could autonomously do assigned tasks and then be controlled through competition by a remote pilot. The robots also have to be able to climb a series of parallel bars.
Put together, all of these tasks are designed for a very real world scenario: robots that can process cargo for transport, say at an airport. The Rapid React challenge is sponsored by The Boeing Company
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