On February 16, the Linganore/Walkersville robotics club met for one of their final meetings of the season. They have spent several weeks designing, programming, and constructing a robot that will compete in the 2016 FIRST Robotics Competition.

The competition, known as FRC, is an international high school robotics competition where teams of high school students are tasked with constructing a robot. The robot must be able to perform certain tasks such as throwing a frisbee, hanging on bars, or scoring baskets.  This year’s task is called FIRST Stronghold, and the “quest” is to breach the opponent’s fortifications.

With only six weeks to build, the Team 686, Bovine Intervention, has been meeting almost every day, working non-stop to create their machine. President of the robotics team, Kate Cameron, said “Everyone has worked well together, and we’ve gotten a lot done. I’m proud of them.”

Even with many setbacks due to snow, the robotics team is already in the final stages of construction.

“It’s been fairly nerve-wracking, but we worked through it and got the robot finished.” said Cameron.

The team will compete in the first FRC competition from March 11th to 13th. They are optimistic about their chances this year. Last year, the team finished third in the DC Regional Finals.

Abby Meyer, the team’s safety captain, said “I think we will place at districts. We have worked hard this season stayed on schedule, and we have made a robot with a lot of potential.”