State title yet one more laurel for HOT robotics team

The Huron Valley Schools Heroes of Tomorrow (HOT) Robotics Team earned a state championship last weekend and will be heading to the World Robotics Championship in St. Louis, Mo. beginning Wednesday, April 27.

“Our team was the most effective group playing the game designed by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology),” said team mentor and Milford High School Teacher Lori Gleason. “I’ve learned in my experience that one person can’t win it all.”

FIRST was founded in 1989 by inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen. It’s an organization that creates programs designed to encourage students to become interested in the fields of science and technology.

The HOT Team is comprised of 50 Milford High School, Lakeland High School, and International Academy West students, who pair up with 20 mentors from the General Motors Proving Grounds and Huron Valley Schools.

“The kids are placed in groups of five and assigned to one mentor and are taught their part of building a robot, including design, parts, assembly, wiring, and programming,” Gleason said.

After three days of state competition, the HOT Team emerged as the winner, with second-place awarded to their seed alliance team, Notre Dame Prep’s The Killer Bees. The HOT Team, along with the Killer Bees and the Goodrich Schools’ More Martians, outscored teams from all over Michigan.

In the finals, the HOT Team edged out the competition by a sole point (112 to 111). The team lost its second match, but rebounded in the third and final match when the HOT Team alliance put up a score of 111 to 85. The average alliance score in this tournament was 83.

Subsequently it was the HOT team that took home the championship trophy to add to its collection, given it’s no novice to winning impressive accolades. It placed first at the world championship competition in 2005, 2009, and 2010.

“Our team has a tradition of being the best team in the world,” Gleason said.