Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include photographs, courtesy of Jim Blankman
Teams from IKM-Manning School District have been competing in the seventh- through 12th-grade First Tech Challenge (FTC) Relic Recovery this school year. Twenty members of the middle and high school built and programmed robots that finish highly detailed challenges against teams from other schools. Over the course of the year, they have travelled the region to go head-to-head against others, utilizing engineering, math and science concepts. One of the teams, 10256, moved through the FTC Super Qualifier on Feb. 10 in Sioux City, with a consistent showing throughout the day and landing a ninth place finish, winning three of five alliance matches and scoring 517 points. That team, of Carter Irlmeier, Dylan Spies, Grant Behrens and Carter Spies, however, was able to move on to the Super Qualifier finals after being selected to be in an alliance with the Cherokee 8807 and Starmont 6661 teams. Their team lost in the opening round of finals, but performed well enough during the day to qualify for the State Championship held last weekend in Coralville. Team 10256 had an exceptional showing at state and ended their run in eighth place of the 24 teams in their division, and in the top 16 overall of the 48 teams that participated. The robots in the FTC Relic Recovery Challenge are designed to score glyphs into crypto boxes and complete rows, columns and ciphers, transfer relics to recovery zones, retrieve jewels, park on balancing stones and navigate specific parts of the playing field.
