High school robotics teams from across Michigan face off at Cass Tech
(CBS DETROIT) - The annual FIRST Robotics Competition was held in Detroit on Saturday.
Dozens of teams from across Michigan faced off at Cass Tech High School to compete for the top spot.
CBS News Detroit caught up with teams doing last-minute prep before the competition.
Team 2337, known as the Enginerds, represent Grand Blanc High School. They have a lot of faith in their robot because they said it's fast.
They and others in the room are the technology leaders of the future.
While Hunter German said it took a lot of hard work to get there, making the robot wasn't hard for him and others on his team.
"Well, hard is relative. It's a lot of dedication and work, but if you put in the work, you get out what you put in," said German. "So, if you put in a lot of hard work, it'll pay off in competition."
Senior Madison Johnston is a coder for the team. She focuses on the first 15 seconds that the robot will move by itself. She was right at home behind the computer, commanding a robot.
"I really have an interest in math and science and things like that," said Johnston. "In middle school, I joined the robotics team and I joined an all-girls team, and that's what really got me interested in robotics."
Depending on how many points teams accumulate, some teams will go on to compete at the state level.
The Enginerds compete again for another qualifying round next Saturday, which will determine if they qualify for the state championship.
Officials with the event say they are almost guaranteed to qualify based on the fact they have already earned 73 points so far and will earn more points in the coming event. Last year's state qualifying points requirement was only 63 points and they have already surpassed that mark currently.