BY MATT SCHOOLEYYou won’t see Hopkinton and John Stark fans rooting for the same team during basketball games. During the three-day FIRST robotics competition, however, fans from both schools were rooting for Oz-Ram, a team made up of both John Stark and Hopkinton students. Fans weren’t the only ones united by the team, as the ...

BY MATT SCHOOLEYMusic blaring, lights flashing and the seats filled with spectators, Manchester’s Verizon Wireless Arena wasn’t playing host to a musical act or sporting event, but more than 1,000 high school ers participating in the FIRST Overdrive Robotics Competition. Saturday, March 1, marked the end of the three-day competition ...

BY MATT SCHOOLEYNear the bottom of the 48-team pack of robotics teams from across New England, Pembroke Academy’s chances at a trip to the national finals were not looking good. But after being selected as an ally with Trinity High School and Rhode Island’s Rhode Warriors team, Pembroke and its new partners went on an impressive run, ...

BY CHRIS QUARTARONEBedford High School is about to make history, again, as a group of students are building their first high-tech robot. Since early January, the Bedford High School FIRST robotics team has been working everyday getting their machine ready for competition. FIRST is a worldwide robotics contest founded in 1989 by Segway inventor ...

BY JENN McDOWELLThe FIRST robotics season kicked off for teams around the world with the announcement of this year’s challenge: FIRST Overdrive. Dean Kamen, president of DEKA Research and Development Corporation in Manchester, founded FIRST in 1991. Today, New Hampshire alone has 28 FIRST robotics teams supported through schools, community ...

BY KEVIN SHALVEYMost students would shrug off the idea of going to school on weekend mornings, but the members of the Manchester West High School FIRST robotics team look foward to drilling holes in pipes, shortening metal brackets and cutting wood. Building a robot has to start somewhere, and about 10 students at Manchester High School West ...