About ROBO-CON
ROBO-CON is an annual free festival of Robotics and STEM, featuring robotics fields of all levels where participants drive robots to earn their ROBO License in the ROBO Driver's Academy; participate in over 10 STEM activities for all ages; and have opportunities to meet representatives from universities and business, many with interactive displays.
Along with the festival is a full FIRST Robotics Competition Event in which 32 high school age robotics teams from all over Michigan will battle it out for the winning title playing the 2019 season game.
Along with the festival is a full FIRST Robotics Competition Event in which 32 high school age robotics teams from all over Michigan will battle it out for the winning title playing the 2019 season game.
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Our HistoryThe event started in 2014 with FIRST Robotics Team 1684 The Chimeras, to share the thrill of robotics and learning with others. Later they were joined by Team 5460 Strike Zone as the event grew in size.
Something happens when a kid joins a robotics team. Maybe that kid has always been a good student. Maybe he or she is an average teen caught up in everyday school life. Or maybe we're talking the kind of kid who seems forever doomed to play video games in a parent's basement. Regardless, joining a team generally marks a sudden discovery that learning things like Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and business skills are so much more interesting than anyone would have dreamed. Talk to any teacher who's up to their elbows in robotics, and you'll hear about how competition becomes motivation, that suddenly students are engaged, that passive learning is a thing of the past. Since a huge amount of time and effort goes into robotics teams, by 2014 it had become crystal clear that it would be a shame to keep it quiet. And that's how ROBO-CON began, as a burning realization that it was time to make it loud. In that first year, a handful of people had only a few weeks to pull together an event that would show the community, family, and kids of all ages what a blast robotics and learning can be. It was hoped that the event would draw about 75 people. Instead, more than 300 showed up. Organizers were gratified to hear parents say, "Oh no, we're not leaving. We can't get our son out of here." In 2015 the festival drew more than 600 people, including guests who drove across the state to participate. By the third year, about 1,000 people were at ROBO-CON, and it was finally coming close to the original vision. In 2017, a committee was formed with representatives from the two FRC host teams, their alumni, and the View Newspaper Group, all planning for an event that included an estimated 1,700 people from all across Michigan and beyond. Last year with our new FRC Off Season event and new activities we had nearly 2000 attendees! We are moving forward with a passion to keep this an awesome, free summer event in Lapeer, Michigan which continues to grow. Not only do we want it to be a blast, but we are committed to make ROBO-CON an experience which inspires others to take what happens here, and let it inspire students to explore the excitement of learning and making. It is our goal for this free summer event to motivate students to engross themselves in STEM learning during the summer and hopefully, for the rest of their lives. |
Current ROBO-CON Event Coordinator, Bernadette Storts
with Co-Founder & former Chair, Elizabeth Lowe and Co-Founder, Tony Diodato at the 2018 ROBO-CON Event 
Pete Eckman from RoboZone TV with Bob Nichols from
Kettering University at the 2017 ROBO-CON Festival. |
Join us at the 6th annual Michigan ROBO-CON Festival of Robotics & STEM Learning
Sat., July 20, 2018, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., 170 Millville Rd., Lapeer MI 48446.
To become a sponsor please contact us.
Sat., July 20, 2018, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., 170 Millville Rd., Lapeer MI 48446.
To become a sponsor please contact us.
