Local Robotics Teams Shine, from Regional Success to World Competition

Every school year, many of our students dedicate their time, energy and creativity to help strengthen their teamwork skills, hone their engineering and coding knowledge, and build robots together.

Through school-based clubs and community-run programs, our students have the opportunity to compete against robotics teams from throughout the region, state, and – this week – the world.

Team 9023, the “Future Martians,” are a community-based, student-run robotics team including nearly 50 students from Skyline High School, Beaver Lake Middle School and Pine Lake Middle School. Two students from other schools also compete on the team. This week, the Future Martians are at the FIRST Robotics Competition World Championships in Houston, Texas, with their 2026 robot, “Phoenix.”

“I'm looking forward to seeing all the different innovations that teams have come up with to make their robot the most competitive on the field,” Pine Lake student Hridhaan D. said.

In the past four years, parent volunteers report that the team has climbed from “Rookie All Stars” to being ranked in the top 10 teams in the Pacific Northwest. They have also helped mentor 27 other youth robotics teams in the area. Collectively, team members say they have spent more than 5,000 hours since January to engineer and manufacture their robot.

"The most challenging part of the season was redesigning our previous robot archetype to maximize throughput and increase our scoring during matches. We had to quickly improve the mechanical design and software systems under a tight timeline to build a faster, more efficient, and reliable robot for the World Championship," said Vihaan M.

Good luck to the Future Martians at the World Championships!

Another area team, the Beta Bots, includes eight Skyline High School students who were selected to represent Washington state in the United States Governors Cup in Washington D.C. in February. The Beta Bots (Team 23214) advanced to the playoffs after the qualification matches against teams from across the nation.

Also this season, the Beta Bots earned the “Inspire Award,” which is given to the team that best demonstrates excellence in robot design, strong teamwork, and meaningful community outreach to promote STEM education, volunteers said.

The Liberty FRC Robotics Team earlier this season won the FIRST Impact Award in a competition at Glacier Peak High School.

“The Impact Award is the top honor at these competitions — it recognizes a team that best represents the spirit of the FIRST Robotics Organization through robot performance, engineering, outreach, and Gracious Professionalism,” Liberty team members said. “This win reflects months of late nights, testing, iterating, and teamwork, plus the support of our mentors, families, and the entire Liberty community.”

Please join us in a shoutout also to our Issaquah High School Eagles on Team 1318, to our Skyline High School Spartabots, and to the Gibson Ek High School Robotics Club!

It takes more than just metal and code to build a champion robot; it takes heart. Whether they’re building in a garage or competing on the world stage, these students are wired for success.