On April 2nd forty teams geared up to compete for points and prestige at the FIRST FLL Challenge State Championship! Hosted by the Doolittle Institute, this mechanized marvel of an event took place from 8 am to 4 pm at the Northwest Florida State College Raider arena attracting 1200 attendees.
Over 400 student participants traveled from five regions across Florida to put their coding and design skills to the test on a sixteen-mission robotics course. As they competed to become state champions, these teams showed off team spirit with colorful costumes and exciting chants.
Teams also had a unique opportunity to engage and interact with DoD branches and FIRST robotics programs at the event. This included Explosive Ordinance Disposal technicians, Naval Surface Warfare professionals, AFRL Engineers, FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST Robotics competition teams.
In addition, over fifty volunteers came together by helping to set up, run, and break down the event. Many of these volunteers work as scientists and engineers for the Air Force Research Lab on Eglin Air Force Base. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a memorable event for students and parents alike!
For more photos from the FLL Challenge State Championship, please visit the Doolittle Institute STEM outreach Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DoolittleInstituteSTEM.
For more information on the FIRST programs, visit https://doolittleinstitute.org/stem/.