By Melanie Petrucci, Senior Community Reporter
Marlborough – Excitement was in the air Jan. 5 at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School in Marlborough as local FIRST Robotics Competition high school teams gathered for this year’s kickoff.
Revealed during a live stream broadcast, this year’s game is “Destination: Deep Space.” Two competing alliances collect “samples” on fictional Planet Primus and must gather as many cargo pods as possible and prepare their spaceships for takeoff while facing uncertain terrain and weather conditions.
Marcus Fletcher, faculty member and coordinator of Assabet’s Aztechs Team 157 – himself a 1999 graduate of the school – said that this was the fifth year that they have hosted the event where 25 teams took part.
Students had an opportunity to attend educational workshops as well as view the live streamed broadcast and collect their team’s “Kit of Parts” to help them get started building their robot.
Teams have until Tuesday, Feb. 19, to assemble their robots before competitions begin. For more information, visit www.firstinspires.org.
