Competition can bring out the worst in those involved. In FIRST robotics competitions, the opposite is often true.

Though members of the Hopkinton and John Stark high schools’ robotics team would like to come out victorious, they also realize there are other lessons to learn throughout the process.

“There’s no negative competition. In sports, you form rivalries and can be sour. In robotics you don’t walk away upset. You feel like you accomplished something,” said Hopkinton High School senior Mike Flynn.

The two schools combined forces to create the Oz-Ram team for the competition, which gives students across the globe the chance to build a robot and compete in the same game.

This year’s competition involves using the robot to pick up inflated balls as it walks around the designated area, getting points for performing a variety of tasks.

Although Oz-Ram competes against other schools, coach Will Renauld said there have been many occasions when his team has lost due to good sportsmanship.

“We’ve been at events where people gave us timeouts and we’ve beaten them, and the same thing has happened to us. They’re grateful we got the chance to compete at an even level,” he said. “It’s a tremendous air of competition with teams helping each other. We know it’s going to come back to us and someone will help us.”

Hopkinton senior Aric Brandt said the competition is different than that of a sporting event.

“It’s an interesting competition because you don’t have time to form heated rivalries. It’s more about having fun than the competition,” said Brandt, who will be dressed in costume to go with his team’s Wizard of Oz theme. “Competitions can be very intense. I just go around and talk to people. I’m going to be a flying monkey so it’s even better. How can I be self conscious?”

Alexandra Winzeler doesn’t have an interest in becoming an engineer in the future, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t learned anything from the team.

“The teamwork within the team and between the teams is great. You’re competing, but you demonstrate maturity,” said Winzeler, who does PR and writing tasks for the team. “Being on the team has given me a new perspective on what these people feel about science, and on life how people work together. It’s helped me see the world in a different light.”

Robotics skills have already helped senior Evan Morse in every day situations.

“I noticed a few months ago that I’ve been applying what I’ve learned. I was redesigning my room and wanted a specifically sized desk,” he said. “So I went through the same process we use in robotics to design it and build it.”

Renauld said he has calculated that when all is said and done, he commits to about 600 hours per year to the team, which meets six days a week. As the process gets closer to the competition date, teams need to ship their robot and the nights prior to deadline get later for the team.

“The night before we are working until 3 o’clock in the morning. All of the robots have to be shipped at a certain date,” said Renauld. “If we can finish it at 2 a.m. this year, we’ll be ahead of the game. It’s a hectic but rewarding time.”

This will be Hopkinton’s third year involved in the robotics program, and the team has already won multiple awards. In 2006, Oz-Ram won the Granite State Regional Rookie All-Star Award, which comes with a spot in the FIRST Robotics Competition in Atlanta, Ga.

“I think it’s great to be continuing to do this,” said Winzeler, in her second year with the team. “We’re more relaxed on the process this year, and have more time for creative thinking.”

Although winning isn't necessarily a top goal of the team, those involved in the competition are still passionate while cheering on Oz-Ram.

Following a competition two years ago, Renauld noticed that no one in the area of the robotics floor had much of a voice left. He turned to an engineer next to him and asked, “Have you ever cheered for anything so hard in your life?”