Tiny but mighty robotics team competes in Allendale

By Jenny Roberts
ALLENDALE — The Iron Hill Automatons robotics team (Team 7768) competed in the FIM District West Michigan Event in Allendale on March 26. The team was 5-10 in official play and ranked 21 out of 36 teams. 
Team 7768 is made up of six members with three coaches; however, only two members along with the coaches were able to attend the event. 
Cooper Hill, who served as team captain and primary driver, along with Abigail Davis, who served as the backup driver, are both middle schoolers. 
“They both did exceptionally well for their first time driving the robot,” said Van Hill, one of the team coaches, “especially since they were competing against larger and more experienced teams.” 
The Automatons is a FIRST Robotics Competition team made up of students from Iron County with West Iron County Schools serving as  its fiduciary agent. 
FIRST stands for ‘For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology’ and is a global organization. According to the organization’s website (firstinspires.org), 81% of FIRST alumni declare a major in science, technology, engineering or math
FIRST is “a robotics community that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18 (PreK-12) that can be facilitated in school or in structured afterschool programs,” as stated in their online about section. 
The Iron Hill Automatons’ next competition will be April 7-9 at Kingsford High School. The event is free to all to attend. If you would like to know more about the robotics team or want to show your support, go to their Facebook page: Iron Hill Automatons.