Two and a half minutes is all it takes to decide whether the Robotics team wins or loses their match.

The team will compete in several matches at Bradley University in Peoria over the course of Friday and Saturday until Saturday afternoon, when the top teams compete in play-offs for a chance to compete in the world championship.

“I would say we have a strong chance of competing in the playoffs as we focus on something that many other teams have seemed to ignore during [other] regionals,” Kevin Steibel, senior club president and assistant driver, said. “While most teams focus on scoring points with gears, we have focused energy on creating a system that shoot effectively, so we will add an element to the playoffs that many teams cannot.”

The robotics team built their robot in six weeks, starting January 7 when this year’s Steampunk-themed challenge was revealed. The challenge involves components such as shooting wiffle balls in goals, hanging gears, and climbing a rope. Except for two sponsor demos, the regional will be the first time the robotics team is allowed to touch their robot since the end of their build season

“[The regional] is our chance to compete,” John Keyzer, Applied Technology teacher and club sponsor, said. “We get to compete with and against other schools, which is different than sports. FIRST robotics preaches a philosophy of gracious professionalism. Teams help teams constantly throughout the regional because you might be against someone in a game and then two matches later, be working with them. In the grand scheme of things, it’s about learning, working with mentors, and less about winning.”

On Wednesday, part of the team, including the robot’s driver and assistant driver, will head down to Peoria for their first of two regionals. They will set up that afternoon and use the following day to fine-tune the robot. The rest of the team joins them on Friday for the actual competition matches, which will be livestreamed.

“This will be my third time going to Peoria,” Steibel said. “I enjoyed myself. My second year, I was able to help out in the pits more as well as talk to other teams and wear the bear costume [as team mascot]. This year, I will be much more involved because I am assistant driver and I’ll be helping out in the pits constantly, so I will not have that relaxed experience I had the past two years.”

The pit is the team’s mobile workshop where they set up all the tools they will need from the robotics lab at the high school. In between matches, the robot is kept in the pits and repaired between matches.

“It’s very very hectic all the time,” Nate Coirier, senior software lead and driver, said. “Teams don’t have a large space to work in. After a match where things go wrong, it’s a rush to get it fixed and get the robot off to the next match, so it winds up very crowded, and you have way more people in the pit than seems humanly possible.”

The team’s pit is in a room filled with similar set ups for all the other competing teams. In between matches, students can visit other teams and make connections.

“Networking at regionals is an ‘on-you’ thing,” Steibel said. “If you want to, you go out and talk to teams, you ask questions. Sometimes we have people that are designated to go out and talk, to make sure we have connections with other teams. It’s not only helpful for during competition, with who does what and how well they do it, but also just making friends and acquaintances in the STEM field.”

Even though FIRST Robotics places heavy emphasis on technology and engineering, Steibel says anyone can and should get involved.

“I would like to encourage people to consider looking into the STEM field, even if it’s not something you’re interested in in the first place,” Steibel said. “As someone who does not intend to go into STEM in the future, I can still find some form of enjoyment and education through this program.”