The Highland Robotics team is advancing to the FIRST Tech Challenge North Super-Regional Championship for the first time in their tenure.

The Finger Tightans won the Think Award, the second highest award given at the Iowa Championship, and will now compete against teams from 11 states. Senior Sam Smith describes what their robot will have to do, “This year’s challenge is all about placing blocks into what they’re called cryptoboxes. They’re kind of like shelves and it’s got three columns and it’s four blocks high. And so you’re taking blocks from the middle of the field and you’re trying to put them in that shelving unit. And there’s also the end game challenge; the big challenge at the end is to take what they call a relic, so it’s this yellow plastic guy, and put him outside the field in one of the recovery zones.”

The North Super-Regional Championship takes place Thursday through Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, and admission is free. If the Finger Tightans advance from the Super-Regional Championship, they will compete at the World Championship April 25-28 in Detroit, Michigan. The Finger Tightans competed at worlds last year after qualifying on a wild card draw.

Finger Tightans team members:

Matt Butler
Nathan Butler
Makala Cox
Samantha Cox
Emma Crossett
Noah Holden
Sam Smith
Emily Streb
Alex Tompkin
Thomas Tory
Luke Van Schoyck