Microsoft Team of the Week – Team 6046

Microsoft has generously offered grants for teams across Canada in 2017. During the months of January, February, and March, we’re highlighting Microsoft-sponsored teams!

This week we talked to 6046,  Team Tecking from King City, Ontario.

FIRST Robotics Canada: How do you feel about the 2017 game?
Team 6046: After watching the reveal video on kick-off day, everyone on the team was very “steamed up” for this year’s competition season. Since this is our second year participating in FIRST Robotics, our team is feeling more prepared and more hopeful about this year’s game. The game does have some similar components to last year, such as the low and high goals, but also includes significantly different components, offering enough of a challenge for our team while ensuring that the team doesn’t get discouraged.

FIRST: What about the game are most excited for?
6046: Strategy will be a key component in this game and after observing and learning from more experienced teams last year, we are looking forward to taking more of an active role this year in strategizing, particularly with other teams. Since there are more ways to score this year and the element of breaching defences is no longer an aspect of the game, more strategical precautions will have to be taken into consideration during game play. Whether we decide to play offensively or defensively will be a decision that we will make after we have participated in a few games. Above all, we’re excited to see how our robot fares against other robots and we can’t wait to meet and talk to other teams about their experiences.

FIRST: What makes your team unique?
6046: What makes Tecking 6046 unique is our resourcefulness. Though we lack tech shops and the proper machinery to produce components, we use our innovative minds to overcome such difficulties and use the simple tools that are available to us. In our rookie year, we named our robot “Hacksaw” to prove that we have not let the obstacles we face prevent us from giving our absolute best. Everyone on the team has the opportunity to try a little bit of every aspect of robotics and it is not uncommon to have someone in robotics learn something completely brand new. This helps build personal confidence and challenge ourselves as individuals, while keeping in mind the importance of working together as a team.

Another unique factor about our team is our mentors. We owe a lot to our dedicated parent volunteers Tim and Lisa, and our Lead Mentor, JF Michaud. Their patience and guidance has helped to inspire so many students and has encouraged and inspired students to go into STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) related careers. We are lucky to have their support in last year and this year’s competition season.

FIRST: What events are your team attending this year?
6046: This year we will be attending the Ryerson University and McMaster University District events. We are currently counting down the days until we can go onto the field!

FIRST: How has the Microsoft grant helped your team so far?
6046: As a second-year team with very little funding, the Microsoft Grant has allowed us to be able to continue to pursue robotics at our school and has gone towards purchasing the majority of the parts for our robot. Additionally, the Microsoft Grant has contributed to the cost of one of the district events that we are attending. We cannot thank Microsoft enough for their generosity. Beyond the financial aid provided by Microsoft, your generosity has really motivated us to try harder to build a stronger team, to challenge ourselves as individuals and continue to improve our performance with each competition we attend. The members of Tecking 6046 thank you for your generosity and will ensure your investment in our team is not wasted.

Thanks, Team 6046! We wish you the best of luck this season. And thank you, Microsoft, for supporting FIRST Robotics Canada teams.