The “Giant Diencephalic BrainSTEM Robotics Team,” members of which include Mars Area junior Adrian Zugehar, competed at the FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championships, held April 24-27 at the Cobo Center (Detroit, Mich.).  

The BrainSTEM team took second place overall in the championship final and took first place in the division finals. The team was also selected to receive the Inspire Award, which honors teams that are an inspiration to others; act with gracious professionalism; share their experiences, enthusiasm and knowledge; work as a unit; and are successful in performing the task of designing and building a robot.

This year’s competition theme was “Rover Ruckus” and asked teams to design and build a robot to accomplish simulated space rescue missions — descending from the lander; collecting minerals from a crater; sorting minerals into a cargo hold; performing autonomous tasks; and navigating a playing field.

The BrainSTEM team qualified for the World Championship at the FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) Pennsylvania State Championship, held March 2-3. The team was one of 160 to qualify for the event, representing five percent of FTC teams in more than 70 countries around the world.  

The FTC program, open to students in Grades 7-12, challenges students to design, build and program robots to compete in team challenges. For more information, visit www.firstchampionship.org/detroit.