Fitch robotics team starts world competition Thursday

AUSTINTOWN

Fitch students will begin competing against teams from across the world Thursday in St. Louis, Mo., at a world robotics competition.

The Falco Tech FRC 3193 team, which began traveling today, is competing in the FIRST Robotics Competition Championships with five rounds Thursday and Friday while staying in a hotel in the St. Louis area, head coach Ric Zimmermann said. FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

“We’ve always been so close and this year our robot did an aspect” that was even better, Zimmermann said. “A lot of tears. A lot of jumping up and down [when we won]. People emailing local people, the parents and everything. It was pure pleasure.”

The team has been around for six years with Zimmermann at the helm and has varied from eight students, in the first year, to as many as 40-some two years ago. This year there are 27.

The team, however, “zeroed out its accounts” to be able to make the trip and is now seeking donations to continue in competitions after the championships. The team has set up a gofundme page, www.gofundme.com/FitchRobotics, which as of Tuesday night had raised $1,690 over 22 days.

Read more about the team in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.