Ann Arbor robotics team to appear Thursday night on Detroit TV

By Danielle Arndt K-12 education reporter

Posted on Thu, May 31, 2012 : 12:38 p.m.

The “Rat Pack,” a group of Ann Arbor high school robotics students, will be showcased tonight at 8 p.m. on Detroit Public TV.

The TV station, channel 56, will replay the Rat Pack’s state championship win from the April 14 FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, robotics competition.

Members of the Ann Arbor Rat Pack robotics team celebrate a score during the state championship competition at Eastern Michigan University on April 14.

Courtesy of Facebook

The team from Ann Arbor was crowned state champs, along with a team from Milford and Bloomfield Hills. They were among 190 Michigan teams, after engineering a robot that defeated its competitors’ robots in a series of “basketball” games.

The radio-controlled robots had to be designed to maneuver around, pick up and shoot basketballs with speed and accuracy.

FIRST is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to help prepare teens to become leaders in science and technology.

The Rat Pack is comprised of more than 25 students from Ann Arbor Huron, Skyline and Community high schools; Washtenaw Technical Middle College; Greenhills School and home-schooled students.

The Rat Pack’s state championship game also will be live-streamed tonight on dptv.org.

Previous coverage: Local high school robotics teams to compete in state championship at EMU this weekend

Staff reporter Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.

Tags: robotics,