Novi FIRST Robotics Teams Headed To Super-Regional

NOVI, MI — Two of Novi Middle School’s robotics teams are heading to Iowa state this week. FTC 6134 Black Frog and FTC 10477 Rapid Robots will compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge North Super-Regional Championship at US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The three-day event is March 30 to April 1. The Novi teams are among 72 squads – from Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin – competing for a berth in this year’s FIRST Championship, which will be held April 26-29, in St. Louis, Missouri.

The two teams recently won state championship awards, which earned berths into the super-regional field. Since Michigan is one of the few states that participates in FTC at the middle-school level, Black Frog and Rapid Robots will be competing primarily against high school teams.

Last weekend, FTC 503 Frog Force, the robotics team at Novi High School, reached the finals of the Woodhaven districts. Despite finishing in second place, Frog Force’s team alliance received the third-highest score (445) in the world. And for the first time ever, they won the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors, which celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively addresses the game challenge.

Frog Force’s next event is April 7-8 at Livonia Churchill High School. Another solid tournament performance should qualify Frog Force for the Michigan State Championship at Saginaw Valley University, April 13-15.

Photo courtesy Novi Community School District