A robotics team from Sarnia will compete at the FIRST Robotics regional competition in Windsor this week, in hopes of moving on to the provincial finals.
The "Francobots" began competing as a team this year. It was formed by a non-profit education organization called Mastermind Youth Foundation and two French schools, École Secondaire Catholique Saint-François-Xavier and École Scondaire Franco-Jeunesse.
"They're both very small schools so in order to have enough students and support, they decided to join forces," said Foundation Founder Sachin Parmar.
He said the team includes 11 students, ranging from Grade 9 through Grade 12.
The Francobots will be the only team from Lambton County competing in the Windsor-Essex Great Lakes Event, which is being held from March 28 until March 30. The only other team to participate from Lambton-Kent district includes the CK Cyber Pack from Chatham.
The competition in Windsor comes shortly after the Francobots took part in the Waterloo regional competition, held last weekend. Out of 30 groups, the team finished eighth and won the Imagery Award, which recognizes attractiveness in engineering and the visual aesthetic integration of machine and team appearance.
"They were really nervous at the beginning but as the weekend went on [it] was just pure excitement and when the Imagery Award was won, everybody was really pumped up at the end of the weekend and ready to go to Windsor," Parmar said.
Thirty-four teams have signed up for the Windsor event.
Parmar said teams that place high or earn certain awards will be able to move on to the provincial finals, which is being held in Mississauga from April 3 until April 6. The world championship is scheduled to take place in Houston, Texas, U.S., in mid-April.
Students have spent the past few months preparing for regional competitions. FIRST Robotics released a challenge at the beginning of the year to specify what the robot needs to be able to do, how teams can earn points, and what elements will be included on the playing field.
"Essentially, they showcase what game is being played. So it's a three-on-three type of game, so it's three robots against three robots," he said. "Once the students see that kick-off video, the next step is to start designing and building the robot in order to compete in that game."
Parmar said it has been "amazing" to see the students work together and grow as individuals.
"It's amazing to see the kids grow as much as they have," he said. "Especially meeting them — we did some workshops with them in November [2023] and [seeing] just how shy and reserved they were and then actually seeing them come into their element is really special."
Parmar said those who are interested in joining the Francobots are encouraged to look at the team's website.