The school’s robotics team has finished building its annual robot, which will compete against robots from other schools.
This year the robot is expected to shoot baskets while being encumbered by other robots, time restraints and mechanical hurdles.
Southfield’s robot belongs to the “Techno Jays” of Southfield High School and includes a multitude of enhancements given to it by the robotics team. It has the ability to shoot basketballs “better than half our team,” according to Techno Jays Marketing Captain Erica Mickens, who is a senior.
Mickens says the team will enter its robot in several First Robotics competitions this year. First Robotics contestants are asked to create an operational robot capable of completing a task that changes every year.
The robotics competitions have been around since 1992 and this year involve 2,343 teams and over 58,000 high school students.
“Building the robot is always a good experience,” said sophomore Carl Jones. “I’ve been on the team for two years, and I’m still learning.”
The robotics team is set up more like a family, and the robot is an extension of the family, said Techno Jays Adviser Joe Minnick. The team builds the robot, bonds are made within the team that are just as strong as the steel they fashioned into a basketball juggernaut.