An up-close image of people working on wheels with screwdrivers and drills while looking over instructional manuals.

CEAT hosts FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Media Contact: Desa James | Communications Coordinator | 405-744-2669 | desa.james@okstate.edu

The Oklahoma State University College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology hosted the annual FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff on Saturday, Jan. 4. The event had 450 attendees comprised of 43 different teams.

The event, held in the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center, was exciting for the 9th through 12th-grade students.

Each January, teams across the world learn of that year’s competition rules and challenges at the same time by watching a livestream kickoff video. This year’s theme — REEFSCAPE presented by Haas is a part of the 2024-25 FIRST® DIVESM presented by Qualcomm season. The video showcased the challenge for teams to use their engineering and collaboration skills to build and program industrial-sized robots to compete in alliance-based games focusing on strengthening the ocean’s reefs.

An audible gasp was heard in the room as students and mentors saw that this year’s competition would feature a hanging element. Teams were given their Kickoff Kits, which included motors, batteries, control system components, construction materials and additional automation components. Afterward, students quickly got to work planning their strategies.

Teams took advantage of the Quick Build sessions to start planning.

The competition begins with regional and district events leading to the final championship in mid-April. At these games, robots weighing up to 135 pounds begin autonomously placing coral on the reef and gathering additional algae and coral. Then, they will be remotely controlled on the court to move the algae from the reef to the barge or human players. In the game's final moments, the robots must return to the surface with algae by grabbing onto cages and hanging.

Graphic representing what the court will look like for competition.

CEAT hosts this event to increase involvement within STEM for the community’s high school students and allow them a space to participate in this exciting event. FIRST’s mission is to provide sports-like challenges that build students’ self-confidence and collaborative problem-solving skills and leave them with a lasting impact to continue their growth in STEM.