Royal Oak Robotics runs a program for middle school students at Royal Oak Middle School that participates in FIRST Tech Challenge, or FTC. In FTC, middle school students build medium-sized robots and compete in a worldwide competition again other schools. The robots are built with a combination of off-the-shelf and custom-designed parts. The custom parts can be machined but also heavily feature 3D printing, with students learning how to design on a computer and how to operate the printers. Students also graduate from writing “block code” to full-fledged software development with industrial programming languages. These skills all build on the concepts introduced by our elementary school programs, but no experience is necessary to join the middle school program and all students are welcome to come and learn engineering. For more information about FIRST Tech Challenge, visit the FIRST Website.
The middle school program meets during evenings in the fall. Exact dates and times for 2024 are still to be determined but will be posted here when finalized. The best way to make sure you’re in the loop is to head to the Joining the Team page and fill out the form, which will get you in contact with our coaches so they can answer any questions and email any updates!