Annette Franck, Nederland.  The Pirates! Nederland First Robotics team 1584 are launching another ship for competition this Spring.

In the words of Pirate Hakan : “Avast, thar! We be t’ Nederland 1584 robotics team. We have built a robot to take to competition ’tis year which be startin’ March 22 and endin’ March 25. Tis year’s challenge be steampunk-themed, wit’ objectives such as fuel’in, ‘n fixin’ an airship, along wit’ climbin’ a rope. Our Piratey bot will transport gears t’ airship an climb t’ rope.”

This year’s team of both middle and high school students has adopted the KIS method and are keeping it simple. With a small team, each student can learn from many disciplines, each season. Team Captain, William, is software lead for his third year and lead build this year. Students jump right in and learn from professional engineers, programmers and even returning alumni. The team becomes skilled at everything from fabrication to electronics and the engineering design process. By thinking through the many problems encountered in the process, they are rewarded with a functioning robot that can withstand the many rounds of the Denver Regional robotics competition.

Working as a team and cooperatively with other teams, there are usually about 50 teams at the regional, it is a rewarding and exciting experience. As FIRST says’, “It’s the hardest fun you will ever have!”

You are invited to check out the student’s team webpage and the competition, which is free and open to all.  Talk to a pirate -leave ‘em a note of encouragement!

Team website; nedrobotics.org First Robotics Denver Regional info; March 24-25 Denver University Magness Arena 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.