Teen realizes childhood dream by competing at FIRST Robotics event

After years of watching the television show BattleBots as a child, Anne Vandermeer's dream to participate in a robotics competition came true this weekend.

"When I heard there was a robotics group for teenagers of my age, I just said, 'Yes!' This is my first competition and it's been really good so far," the Grade 9 student said.

The ninth annual FIRST Robotics Canada's Ontario District Windsor-Essex Great Lakes Event was held Friday and Saturday inside the University of Windsor Toldo Lancer Centre for students between Grade 9 and 12.

At FIRST Robotics Competitions, high school students showcase their expertise in science, technology, engineering and math — working together to build robots which perform specific tasks as part of an annual game.

"It's really exciting because the team has grown into a family over the past few months as we've been getting ready for this competition," said Vandermeer, a member of C.K. Cyber Pack, a Chatham-based FRC team.

There were 34 teams from across Ontario who competed at this year's two-day event.

This year’s game, called Crescendo, was a music-themed challenge which saw robots compete to toss foam rings (notes) into targets (speakers and amplifiers).

At the end of each round, robots used chains to hang in the air and score bonus points for their team.