Robots competing in an undersea obstacle course? It's more likely than one might think.
Fifty-four teams faced off at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on Saturday for the FIRST Robotics Competition Greater Pittsburgh Regional. Decked out in cowboy hats, Viking helmets and capes, groups of high schoolers used rigged X-box controllers to maneuver robots through obstacle courses.
The competition allows students to try their hand at robotics, programming, outreach and leadership from a young age, and it provides opportunities to forge connections — with humans and machines.
The event showcased the diversity of the region, from well-endowed teams to those advancing in the competition with scant resources.
The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition and the nonprofit FIRST Robotics, created by engineer and businessman Dean Kamen, is part of a 33-year legacy. Mr. Kamen is best known for his invention of the Segway but started the nonprofit FIRST in 1989 and the FIRST competition in 1992.
With the aim of gathering young people to learn about robotics and engineering, the event Saturday bubbled with teens in matching outfits and their prized robotic companions, which they designed and built in just six weeks.
“It’s a great atmosphere for learning,” said Lily Tang, 18, a student at North Allegheny High School and a member of the team Girls of Steel, which boosts girls from 20 high schools across Allegheny County. “You don’t have to be afraid to talk to people.”
Teammate Amy Jin, 18 and a Shadyside Academy student, alternated between pink and blue X-box controllers that had been recalibrated to control their robot, Pearl. The Girls of Steel team garb was partly inspired by Rosie the Riveter, who was featured on their T-shirts, and members also wore red-and-white polka-dot capes and bandanas.
With the click of a few buttons, Pearl’s claw clutched a giant green kickball, representing “algae” in the competition, due to the underwater theme, to its body. The claw used a pulley system to extend about seven feet, depositing the ball into a net for points. Pearl also had to slot “coral”, or PVC pipe about a foot long, onto a purple metal “reef.”
Ms. Jin started participating in FIRST competitions in fourth grade. They start out with Lego building, with projects becoming more challenging as the kids age. She always had an interest in STEM — science, math, engineering and technology — as her parents both majored in mathematics in college.
Mahika Shetty, an 18-year-old attending South Fayette High School, also started FIRST in fourth grade with Ms. Jin. She wants to go into medicine and plans to major in biology or biomedical engineering in college.
Hanying Zhang, a 15-year-old at Fox Chapel Area High School, said Girls of Steel has provided her with direction. She began learning programming at the ripe age of 13 and helps the team with its computer science and programming needs.
“Before this, I wanted to be a cashier at Target when I grew up,” Hanying joked.
Girls of Steel is lucky to be bolstered by resources: One of the team’s sponsors is Carnegie Mellon University. On the boys’ side, Pittsburgh Central Catholic Robotics had a banner outside its booth listing sponsorships that included Google, OpenAI and Nvidia.
Westinghouse High School, in Homewood, was competing for its second year and made it as an alternate for the bracketed competition, which whittles teams down to two that will compete for a spot in the world competition April 16–19 in Houston.
But its members weren’t disappointed in being listed as a substitute — they were excited, actually. Compared to Girls of Steel’s team of 35 to 40 members, Westinghouse’s Bot-Dogs has five members, with just three regulars.
“It’s been very exciting,” said Kristen Johnson, the team’s coach and a faculty member in Westinghouse’s career tech education program. “We performed significantly better this year than last year.”
The Bot-Dogs are sponsored by two Pittsburgh-based companies, Howmet Aerospace and Arconic, a metals company.
Ms. Johnson said she “knew nothing about robots” before stepping up to coach the team. It’s hard work — teams often gather on weekends for long hours.
Abby Shrack, 23 and a software engineer for PNC by day, is a Girls of Steel mentor, done on a volunteer basis. She estimates mentors put in 50 hours of work last week on top of their regular jobs.
It wasn’t just Pittsburgh competing. Teams from around Appalachia attended on Saturday, including the Putnam Area Robotics Team, or PARTS, Winfield, W. Va’s robotics group. With blue and orange colors and an audience with pom-poms in the bleachers, PARTS wanted to bring STEM to West Virginia, which 17-year-old member Rachel Lawson says is lacking.
“There are not many STEM opportunities here,” she said. “We’re trying to expand that for our county.”
Rachel has been on the team for two years and has multiple roles: social media manager, mechanical lead and photographer.
“I never knew I’d be a mechanical person, but here I am,” she said.
Rachel is deaf and has two cochlear implants. It’s difficult, sometimes, to hear when she’s on the raucous floor troubleshooting their robot, but her team members and friends are always accommodating, she said.
It’s not so much learning programming and engineering skills but the widespread community created through these events.
“I’ve met so many amazing people,” said Rachel. “Some of them are my best friends.”
PARTS, along with the Byting Bulldogs, of Romeo. Mich., and StuyPulse, of Stuyvesant High School in New York, will advance to worldwide competition in Houston next month.
First Published: March 23, 2025, 12:07 a.m.
