The annual FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) season is one of the biggest high school robotics events in the world. Starting in January every year, thousands of robots from schools around the world are built and then sent to compete with the hopes of winning it all at world championships in April. Last weekend, Feb. 28–Mar. 2, CHS’s FRC team traveled to Ferndale, Michigan for the first of two district competitions they will participate in this season.
Walking in the front door of Ferndale High School on Saturday, March 1, the most obvious landmark was the game field: slightly smaller than a tennis court, an elaborate construction of metal and wood occupied the center of the school gym, surrounded by bleachers. Robots would face off on the field in alliances of three and compete to score the most points over the course of matches lasting just over two minutes. In addition to the field, a nearby hallway had been converted for use by teams as “pits”: areas where robots were stored and emergency fixes made in between matches.
The 2025 FRC game, called Reefscape, offers a wide range of methods of scoring points during a match, allowing teams to create unique strategies and designs. The CHS team, known as Zebrotics, chose to focus on scoring by positioning game pieces called coral — lengths of PVC pipe — on a tall steel structure called the reef. Each of the two reefs corresponded to one of the alliances and allowed coral to be placed at four different levels: the higher on the reef that coral was placed, the more points the robot would earn for their alliance. Boasting an impressive six-foot elevator, Zebrotics’s robot, named Sebastian, was capable of scoring on all four levels.
A Reefscape match broadly consists of two segments: one in which the robots are not remotely controlled and run autonomously and another in which they are controlled by human drivers. During both segments, robots have access to two types of game pieces:coral pieces and large inflatable playground balls called algae. The game is designed to encourage creative design, allowing for a diverse array of approaches across the 40 teams in attendance.
After every robot was inspected and weighed in, qualification matches began late Saturday morning. The pits became a frantic soup of people and robots heading to and from the field, rushing to the metal shop to machine a replacement part and conferring with their alliance mates to form a strategy for the next match.
Before long, front-runners of the competition became clear. Nearly 100 teams from Michigan are sent to the world championships each year, and many of the teams present at Ferndale regularly make the list. Zebrotics ranks lower down in the pack, but thanks to the three-on-three matches, every team has the chance to be supported by — and has to face off against — stronger ones.
To CHS sophomore Justin Davis, robotics competitions are a way to learn more about how other robotics teams work and see how his team’s approach compares. After several months of work, it can be hard to admit that things could have been done better, but Davis sees self-criticism as an important way to get as much as possible out of competitions.
“I’m confident that we can do well next time,” Davis said. “Considering how we did in Ferndale, we have things to change, but I’m excited to see what we do.”
The CHS team has, in fact, never made it past the district stage in its history. It has grown significantly from where it began, with this year’s robot being undoubtedly the most elaborate yet, but it still has far to go. No matter how far they make it, their 2025 season has finally begun and has much more in store for them still.
