As part of their mission to inspire the next generation of robotics enthusiasts, Michigan Tech's Copper Country Robotics team built a robot from scratch in just 72 hours and broadcast the entire process.
Members of Copper Country Robotics (CCR) had to think and act fast, as the scenario and specifications for this year's FIRST Robotics Competition were revealed on Jan. 4 and the countdown began.
Robotics teams at high schools and colleges around the world tuned in to the 2025 FIRST Robotics Competition kickoff announcement via a global telecast. More than 20 CCR members returned to Tech's snow-laden campus two days before the University's spring 2025 semester began to watch the challenge reveal.
Robot in 3 Days Challenge
CCR team members worked collaboratively around the clock in order to complete their prototype in three days in Michigan Tech's Alley Makerspace.
The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges high school robotics teams to design, build and test a robot for strategic gameplay in six weeks, advancing to compete with other teams later this year. College students get three days to accomplish the same task — a prospect that CCR members, most of whom are FIRST alumni, seemed to relish.
At Michigan Tech, the Huskies working on the robot were there for the love of it. "I was involved with FIRST for over seven years," said first-year mechanical engineering student Brenda Silva, who helped build the robot's Michigan Tech-branded bumpers. "Robotics is something that I really enjoy doing."
For Lindsay Stone, robotics is a family affair. "My siblings and I were involved in robotics growing up. They did it, and then I was the little sister who thought, 'Well they did it, so I'm going to do it, too.' My parents still do participate as well, and it's something we can all talk about and engage with," said the first-year electrical engineering student.
"It's a lot of work, but it's fun," said Stone. "We get to play with robots again."
Robots Came FIRST for Many Huskies
FIRST, a nationwide nonprofit organization that engages students from preschoolers to high school seniors in team-based robotics programs, incorporated the Robot in 3 Days (Ri3D) Challenge as part of its annual competition kickoff.
Copper Country Robotics serves as a FIRST alumni network for Michigan Tech students who were involved in the program and are excited to nurture the next generation of engineers by serving as role models. They mentor local FIRST teams, volunteer at events, and for the first time are competing in the Ri3D Challenge. Along with collegiate robotics teams from around the globe, they designed, built and tested a robot in just three days, showing the FIRST community the tenacity of Michigan Tech students. Their prototype serves as an example for high school teams in their own design and prototyping phases.
CCR team members got started on this year's challenge at the University's Alley Makerspace — a collaborative facility in the Memorial Union Building open to all students that's outfitted with tools and equipment for 3D printing, woodworking, electronics and more.
Building Robots to Navigate a Reef
This year's robotics competition game, titled REEFSCAPE, challenges teams to construct robots that can maneuver through a simulated undersea game field. Teams score points by picking up and placing four-inch-diameter PVC pieces representing coral onto a large metal structure — the reef. As the competition goes on, they may need to remove algae (green exercise balls) from the reef to open space for more coral. At the end of the challenge, the robots prepare to be picked up by an imaginary barge — a structure built over the starting line at the edge of the field. Each robot must grab onto a metal cage suspended from the barge, then hang from the cage, ready to be pulled up.
In the REEFSCAPE competition, robotics teams will compete together in alliances that pair robots designed to perform specific tasks. Following strategy discussions and design meetings, Copper Country Robotics decided to build a robot that focuses on picking up and placing the PVC coral pieces and dislodging the green algae balls from the reef structure.
"All the preparation, all the decisions, all happened after noon on Saturday," said Stone. "We had part of a drivetrain and we had a lot of parts ordered, but you can't assemble anything because you don't know what you are assembling yet."
Once the specifics were announced, the CCR team launched into their initial strategic planning session, where they outlined all the potential problems their robot could solve and which were best for them to focus on. From there, they dove into design and prototyping. All their work was captured from multiple angles in a 24-hour livestream and then clipped into short videos meant to assist high school teams in their building. CCR also shared public resources on its website for teams to use, including design specs and a code repository for all the work they completed.
Throughout the three days, team members came and went as they could, many working around the clock, all while preparing for a new semester. Monday, Jan. 6, marked the last full day of the competition and the first day of classes at Michigan Tech.
Except for a few hours at night while the team slept, the robot was being worked on constantly. "We all put in a good chunk of time between classes and whenever we can get here," said Stone, one of several team members on-site Monday afternoon working amid a collection of parts, sketches and tools.
The continuous effort kept the team on task and ahead of schedule. Carter Steggerda, CCR's mechanical lead and a second-year mechanical engineering technology student, had already put in over 40 hours of work by Jan. 6, and he had the results to prove it.
"I've never gotten a robot to a programmer faster," said Steggerda. Programming the robot is often the last stage of robot development, and in challenges like these, it's commonly put off to the last minute, according to CCR team members.
Being able to base their work in The Alley Makerspace was a huge benefit to the team. "Having the tools and this large space open that we can use has been great," said Stone.
Steggerda, while still actively working on the robot's elevator mechanism, reveled in not having to put equipment away for the duration of the challenge. Makerspace coach Will Kanar, a first-year computer engineering student, was present to oversee equipment use and safety. He's also a Copper Country Robotics member and has been involved with FIRST since elementary school.
Introducing Blizzard T. Robot
Aptly named after Tech's iconic Husky mascot, Blizzard T. Robot was completed well before the challenge ended. Special features included a drivetrain for moving around the arena, an arm apparatus designed to pick up and place the coral pieces, and an elevator mechanism to reach the taller components of the reef structure.
The original plan was that the arm apparatus would also be used to dislodge the algae balls, but on the second-to-last day of the challenge, the arm was still unable to remove the algae during tests. The solution? Adding another arm, playfully named "the flippy doodah," that flips around to dislodge the algae pieces.
As part of their mission to assist high school teams, CCR released a video demonstration of their working robot.
With the challenge concluded, no further alterations can be made to the robot. Copper Country Robotics will travel with Blizzard T. Robot to compete this spring at Grand Valley State University, where FIRST Robotics high school teams will be able to see how gameplay works and how the different teams' robots interact with one another.
Blizzard T. Robot will also make an appearance at Michigan Tech's Spring Involvement Fair on Jan. 21.
The Robot in 3 Days Challenge was jointly sponsored by Michigan Tech's College of Engineering and College of Computing. Both COE Dean Michelle Scherer and CC Dean Dennis Livesay said supporting the event came naturally.
"Learning by doing is the foundation of Michigan Tech. Robot in 3 Days is a particularly great example of that because it's a student-led effort," said Livesay.
CCR team members will also continue mentoring local high school teams and travel to Escanaba, Michigan, to volunteer at the FIRST Robotics Competition event as technical advisors, referees and more.
Scherer said Michigan Tech is delighted to support Copper Country Robotics in bringing Robot in 3 Days to the Upper Peninsula. "Students know what they want, and they want robots!" she said.
Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
Comments