Proud Supporter of FIRST Robotics

Robots, rocket ships and deep space sound may sound like parts of a work of Science Fiction, but for FIRST Robotics Team #2471 Team Mean Machine it’s just another year competing in one of the world’s largest robotics competitions.

In late December members of the team, which represents a handful of students from high schools in Clark County, Wa., visited US Digital to show off their 2019 robot and thank the company for its continued support.

The demonstration gave US Digital employees an opportunity to see first-hand how company products are used. (Be sure to check out the video at the top of this post to see the robot in action.) It’s also a great way for US Digital to support the innovators of tomorrow.

“Supporting FIRST is an investment in the people and businesses of the future,” US Digital COO Neal Donowitz said.“ Programs like this give students an opportunity to challenge themselves and build confidence while learning something new. That’s something they don’t get at home surfing the internet, watching TV or playing video games.”

The team’s robot, named Epsilon, was designed to attach hatch panels (large disks) to the outside of rockets (large wood columns) and then load cargo (large rubber balls) inside the rockets. The robot needed to be able to be controlled remotely or work autonomously for portions of the competition.

It might seem like a game, but it’s the kind of thing many of them will see in future careers at companies like US Digital.

“We don’t use people like robots, we give people robots to use,” US Digital Founder and CEO David Madore told the team. “The skills that you’re learning, they have real world applications in companies like this.”

After the demonstration, Madore gave students a tour of the production facility and talked about how STEM and problem solving skills they were learning through FIRST, would be of use in their future careers.

During the tour the team learned about injection molding, 3D printing and how US Digital uses automation to enhance its manufacturing processes. All of those are things the team has been learning about in the FIRST program.

“It’s super cool to see that applied in the real world and how we might use it,” Team Mean Machine Treasurer Jacob said after the tour.

US Digital is a proud supporter of FRC #2471, as well as several other teams around the United States and the FIRST Robotics Program.