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Alpena ready for robotics competition Saturday

News Photo by Julie Goldberg Alpena High School sophomore Bryson Fruchey and junior Aaron Ward work Tuesday in the Alpena robotics lab. The school is preparing to host an offseason competition on Saturday.

CORRECTION: This weekend’s offseason robotics competition at Alpena High School is called Bots on the Bay. The name of the competition was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.

ALPENA — On Saturday, 24 robotics teams from around the state will be at Alpena High School for the Bots on the Bay Alpena Offseason Competition.

Event Coordinator John Diamond said Saturday is a one-day competition to get kids interested in robotics and knock the dust off from last season so they can get ready for the upcoming season.

The competition will start at 9 a.m., with the first qualification match. The qualification matches run from 9 a.m. to noon and then 12:45 p.m. to 2 p.m. Each team will compete in nine qualification matches and two playoff matches.

The contest is free and open to the public.

Playoff matches will take place after the qualification matches, with the competition scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. after an awards ceremony.

Diamond said that, since the competition is only one day, there is a lot less preparation than for a three-day competition. He said fewer volunteers are needed for Saturday.

“Now that we’ve been through this a couple of times, we know what we’re getting into and all the preparation is considerably easier because we know what to expect since we’ve been through it once,” Diamond said.

Alpena junior Emeline Hanna said both Alpena teams are excited for the competition. Senior Brett Bonifas said Saturday is like a scrimmage match for the teams and to expose freshmen to what a robotics competition is like.

“It definitely helps out the freshmen and gives all members a little chance to get back into what robotics is all about,” Hanna said.

Teams will start arriving on Friday so they can start unloading their robot and prepare for Saturday. The field will be ready Friday evening, so teams can practice and test the field and their robots.

Each team will have a pit space where they can make adjustments to their robot. People can view the pits and talk to the teams by getting safety glasses when they enter the gym.

Alpena High teacher Melissa Doubek said the competition will be smaller than a regular competition, with 24 teams versus the usual 40, and most teams will take the opportunity to train their new drivers.

“Some of the driving will be awkward, but that’s part of the learning process,” Doubek said. “We’re trying to get some experience with the younger kids and introduce new members to what a tournament looks like.”

Local schools coming to Alpena are Hillman, Atlanta, Posen, Onaway, and Alcona. Last year’s world championship winner from Clarkston High School, Team Rush, will also be at the competition. Diamond said it will be great exposure for Team Rush to be in Alpena.

“It will be good to have that caliber of a team here at the tournament,” he said.

Bonifas said having Team Rush in Alpena will be a good challenge for all the teams. Doubek said it’s exciting for Northeast Michigan to have a seasoned team and all the teams will learn something from Team Rush.

“It’s really amazing,” Hanna said of the other teams coming to Alpena. “The community is so supportive of having us hosting the event and it’s impressive that Alpena can have such an amazing event and have a draw for so many teams.”

Besides the normal awards, Thunder Bay Junior High School students will assist by selecting a team for The Coolest Bot on the Bay Award. The award will go to a team that exhibits the “cool factor.” Doubek said those students will go around and interview the teams so they get behind-the-scenes knowledge of what it’s like competing for awards at robotics competitions.

There will be a concession stand available and Cabin Creek Coffee will be at the event with coffee, smoothies, hot chocolate, and tea.

Hanna said people should go to the high school on Saturday because a lot of people don’t know what to expect at a robotics competition and people can really experience the atmosphere of robotics.

“Even if you don’t know what robotics is about, you should definitely still come, because you can always learn and you can see all these different aspects of robotics and how these different kids come together,” Hanna said.

Julie Goldberg can be reached at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5688.

If you go

∫ WHAT: Bots on the Bay Alpena Offseason Competition

∫ WHEN: Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday

∫ WHERE: Alpena High School

gymnasium, 3303 S. 3rd Ave., Alpena

∫ COST: Free

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