BFHS FIRST Robotics Team 2130 Alpha+ begins 14th season
Photos by 2130 ALPHA+ Team photo from last year’s Nampa Regional.
Regina Claphan and Clinten Hopkins discussing ideas for the upcoming season with the robotics team.
A view of this season’s field, Infinite Recharge.
An all-student meeting, where they are discussing this year’s game and strategy.
The students and mentors discuss this year’s build and competition strategies.
BFHS FIRST Robotics Team 2130 Alpha+ entered its 14th season at the start of the school year. FIRST Robotics is a worldwide robotics competition that brings high school level teams together to compete in a different competition every year. For more information about FIRST Robotics, go to http://www.firstinspires.org.
On Saturday, Jan. 4, students, mentors, parents, teachers, alumni, and guests gathered for the 2020 FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff and the much-anticipated animation video for this year’s game, Infinite Recharge.
During the two minute and 30 second game, two competing alliances of three teams will work to protect FIRSTCity from approaching asteroids. Each alliance must race to collect and store Power Cells to energize each of their Shield Generators. To activate each stage of the Shield Generator, teams manipulate their Control Panels after scoring a specific number of Power Cells. Before the match ends, droids must race to their Rendezvous Point to get their Shield Generator operational for the city’s protection.
To view the game animation, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmiYWTmFRVE.
After the game was revealed, participants formed small groups to brainstorm game strategies, and later came together to make presentations. Everyone left the Kickoff enthusiastic about our new challenge. We are only provided with a very basic Kit of Parts, leaving room for our team to strategize, design, prototype, build, and program our own unique robot. We have designated seven weeks of this season for the building of the robot. After those seven weeks, our programming team will begin their programming process till we leave for our Nampa Regional.
Student team members are working side-by-side with our talented and dedicated mentors as we create this year’s robot. Our business team continues to write sponsor letters, complete grant proposals, write award essays and update our social media sites. For more information on our team’s progress, please visit our Facebook page, “FIRST Team 2130” and our website, www.bfhsrobotics.com.
This season, we will be attending the Idaho Regional in Nampa, Idaho, from March 25 through March 29. We will be competing with teams from California, Florida, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Mexico.
We are immensely grateful for the support and enthusiasm our local community has shown toward our team. FIRST Team 2130 Alpha+ runs primarily on donations from generous businesses, organizations, and community members. We would greatly appreciate any potential support or sponsorship. Checks may be made payable to Bonners Ferry High School Robotics and mailed to Bonners Ferry High School, 6485 Tamarack Lane, Bonners Ferry, ID 83805.
If you are interested in joining our team as a student member or mentor, please contact our email, 2130alphaplus@gmail.com, for further information. We thank you for supporting our efforts to provide students with broader opportunities and brighter futures.