Student robotics teams compete at Elgin Community College

Challenging a bunch of future engineers can sometimes be a contact sport.

About 250 students from around the state sent their custom-built robots into competition during the First Tech Challenge state championship Saturday at Elgin Community College in Elgin.

Thirty-six teams, each with one robot, fended off competitors, dodged debris in their path and raced up a ramp all in 2½ minutes. The clock raced. The crowd cheered. The pressure was on.

"Just seeing how creative all the teams are and how different they approach this to solve a problem has been great," said Patrick Yang, 18, of Barrington.

"I love the camaraderie with being on a team and able to explore this as a hobby with other people who share the same interests," said Owen Raymond, 16, of Barrington.

Yang and Raymond were among students who diligently worked after school and on weekends to build the robots and learned more about science, technology, engineering and math, in the process.

This is the eighth year for First Tech Challenge in this region, and it provides a new problem each year that needs to be solved by the students. They need to make sure they can build a robot that will solve certain problems or do various stunts, such as continuing to move while upside down, said Jonathan Weiland, co-affiliate partner of Illinois First Tech Challenge.

"It's like any other high school sport," said Weiland, who helped to coordinate Saturday's event. "You can win a trophy, but it's really the honor. These are among the best problem-solving people in Illinois."

The participants, mostly those in seventh to 12th grade, said this activity helps them to prepare for future engineering careers. Others said they just enjoyed working together as teams.

They even had fun with team names, including Got Robot from Elgin, Duct Tape and a Prayer in Barrington, Engineers with Attitude in Barrington, Operation: BisonBot in Wood Dale, and Rolling Thunder in Aurora, among others.

Courtney Trom, 17, of Hoffman Estates, has been involved with the program for four years and just got her sister, Chloe Trom, 16, involved this year.

"You get this bucket of parts and by the end of the year, you have built a robot that can do different tasks. That's really cool," Courtney Trom said.

Zoe Kyle, 16, of Carol Stream, is in her second year with the competition and was a driver of a robot this year.

"It's been a lot of fun learning new things," Kyle said.