Emerald Coast Robotics Alliance

FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) is a robotics competition that combines the excitement of sports with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and an intense six-week time limit, teams of students are challenged to design, build, and program industrial-size robots to play a challenging field game against like-minded competitors. It’s as close to real-world engineering as a student can get.

 

Competing in its 15th year, Niceville High School’s robotics team (Team 2556, RadioActive Roaches is our name in FIRST) against just over 3,000 other FIRST teams globally in competing in this year’s game.

 

Earlier in March, we competed at and won the FIRST Tallahassee Robotics Regional Competition at FAMU’s Lawson Center. This win qualified us for the World Championship in Houston, Texas, near the end of April. We will compete with over 450 of the best teams in FIRST from around the world. This is where we need your help. Obviously, as with any endeavor of this scale, the costs are overwhelming. The expense of transporting and lodging our team during the 4-day competition will exceed $20,000. This cost has risen due to the price of fuel and inflation costs. Our team has a small travel budget, but it falls short of what we need. Would you consider joining us in inspiring the next generation of dreamers and problem solvers?

 

Finally, if you’d like a glimpse at the scale and impact of this program on our kids, please watch the 2 minute video, “FIRST Global: Not a Robot” on youtube:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=igR409sJly0