A team of local Montgomery County high school students recently won first place, the Inspire Award, in their division at the 2024 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) World Championships.
Per Equilibrium FTC, “As robotics, AI, and automation take the world by storm, a group of local high schoolers are preparing themselves for the new STEM-driven future. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a non-profit organization using competitions as a way to build interest in STEM among kids aged 4-18.
This group of 8 students based in Montgomery County comes together in a teammate’s basement to build and program robots for competition in FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), a sport-like competition for robots built by 12-18-year-olds. All participants can become a professional – in STEM related fields.
The team consists of students from Winston Churchill High School, Montgomery Blair High School, Quince Orchard High School, Thomas Wootton High School, Poolesville High School, Walt Whitman High School and the Nora School.
This year, the competition includes building a robot to score tiny hexagonal pixels on a diagonal board 30 inches tall, to accurately shoot paper airplanes over seven feet into a set zone, and to lift itself up onto a pole. Last year, this FTC team, Equilibrium.exe, were finalists in their division at the 2023 FIRST World Championship. They also won the Connect award at the 2023 FIRST World Championship which is given to teams that engage with their local STEM community in spreading the awareness of FIRST.
This year, Equilibrium.exe was a member of the winning alliance at the Chesapeake Regional Championships comprising the top teams from D.C, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. They advanced to the FIRST World Championships April 16-20 in Houston, Texas where they competed against the top 224 teams in the world.
This dedicated team of high school students won first place, the Inspire Award, in their division at the 2024 World Championships – making them one of the top 4 teams in the world!
But this team is doing more than just building robots, they’re changing lives.This past summer, a member of their team, Cooper Li, an MCPS student, visited Uganda and Kenya in order to give the opportunity of robotics education and competition to kids who might not be able to get it otherwise.
Equilibrium.exe sourced parts and assembled 11 robotics kits from various robotics teams across the country in order to help start FIRST Lego League Challenge (FLL) robotics teams in Uganda. FLL is another FIRST competition that challenges students aged 9 -16 to build and program LEGO robots to solve simple robotics challenges.
During his trip to Uganda and Kenya, Cooper taught kids the basics of robotics, resulting in 5 groups of ~6 kids putting together and programming their own robots. These students, mostly middle school age, were able to use a color sensor algorithm to autonomously navigate across the field.
Additionally, they used motors and wires to build a drive base and arm in order to pick up a tire and move it around. Due to a lack of resources and opportunities, Equilibrium.exe is engaging the wider robotics community to provide continued sustainable educational opportunities for years to come.
Uganda’s average monthly income is $78 a month, making affording the $400 robotics kits and $250 registration fee challenging for many students, ultimately limiting their prospects. Equilibrium.exe is looking for support from their local community to help make robotics competition possible for these teams. If you’re willing to help pitch in, the team created a GoFundMe!