Two Windsor area high school robotics teams were the only Canadian teams invited to participate May 17 at a reception and tour at Chrysler Group's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich.
The event drew 22 teams which received grants from Chrysler to develop robotics. The teams from Assumption High School and Sandwich Secondary School received $5,000 and $6,400 respectively from the Chrysler Foundation. Speakers at the event included Mark Chernoby, senior vice-president of engineering at Chrysler, and Brian Glowiak, vice-president of the Chrysler Foundation.
The grants enabled high school teams to compete in the FIRST Robotics competition that involves 3,000 high school teams from around the world. Each year, teams design and build a 120-pound robot that can crash and bash in an arena but is nimble enough to shoot three basketball shots, climb 10-foot steel pyramids and launch Frisbees into scoring baskets.
WEtech Alliance is spearheading the expansion of FIRST Robotics in Windsor and Essex with support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.