Area robotics teams are preparing for the competition season.

Numerous students traveled to the Vermeer Global Pavilion to participate in the First Tech Challenge contest. Ethan Doak with Recharged Robotics explains how the First Tech Challenge works.

“We are a competitive robotics program, and we’ve been around for eight years now — our team has been around for five,” Doak says. “Our main goal is to complete a challenge kicked off in September every year, and depending on how far the team goes, it can go until April.”

“We build an 18″ cube that completes a series of tasks that does change every season.”

The Recharged Green team made history in 2017 by becoming the first-ever Iowans to compete in the world semi-finals round. Benjamin Dykstra says the team hopes to return to the world competition this spring.

The Pella High School robotics team also brought their robot as well, in the first academic year of the new program at the Career Academy. The first advancement competition will be held in Ottumwa on Saturday, January 27th.