The high school competition has fast-paced action on the field plus the excitement of a big sporting event with high-energy music revving up the cheering fans and team mascots, but this game has a twist, a technical twist. This game is played by robots.

Since early January, high school students around the world have been designing, constructing and testing their robots, and this week the 2017 FIRST Robotics Competitions begin.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics has been dubbed "the varsity sport for the mind." Event founder Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, hopes this program can help "to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes."

This year's game is called Steamworks. The premise of this game is that two adventurer clubs, which are alliances of three teams and three robots, are preparing for a long-distance airship race. They need to collect fuel, represented by balls shot into a target, or the "boiler," deliver gears to engage rotors, and then climb aboard by having their robot ascend a rope.

Over 3,000 teams from around the world are participating in events through the World Championships in April. These events are fun, free and open to the public. Sixty-seven teams from Indiana are competing, including the Robodogs from Crown Point High School.

"Everyone first saw the video of this year's game on kick-off day back in January. Then our team spent the day determining our strategy. What were our objectives? Did we want to build an offensive or a defensive robot?" said BC Spear, an engineer and returning volunteer mentor for the team. "One thing the team agreed on is that they hope to make it to the World Championships this year."

With that goal in mind, the team of three seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen has worked with their volunteer mentors and parents, often five days a week plus Saturday, and even some Sundays. Spear described the robot they constructed as an offensive robot that can deliver gears, shoot balls into the high (and high point) boiler, and climb the rope at the end of the round.

"There's a lot going on with this robot, and we made it fast so we can do more and score more points each round," said Trina Vargo, a Crown Point junior in her third year on the team.

Vargo is the team's build captain.

"I stay in the pits and do repairs between rounds," Vargo explained. "We try to make the robot perfect, but things happen. Another robot might accidentally bump into it, or something jams or falls off. We have tools and parts in our pit area. We also try to help out our teammates from other schools, even when they're our competitors later on. My favorite part of all this is cheering on a really good team. Even if you're not in the finals, you want a robot that's built right to win."

FIRST has a term for that spirit of competing, and yet assisting, enabling and cooperating whenever you can "coopetition." Participants are also encouraged to display "gracious professionalism" by competing hard yet working with integrity and showing sensitivity.

A culture of safety is another important part of FIRST Robotics.

"Actually the safety captain is the only team position required by FIRST," according to Noah Clark, a Crown Point junior who is this year's safety captain for the Robodogs.

"Everyone needs to wear safety glasses, have their hair tied back and there are different precautions with certain tools when we're building or doing repairs. We have a smaller team so everyone has to take on more than one role, which is good experience. The last couple years I was part of the drive team that would drive the robot on the floor at the competition."

"The competitions are the best part," Clark said. "You see firsthand your work in relation to other teams. It's so interesting to see so many different designs and strategies to achieve the same goal, and the competition is exciting. There's cheering. They play great music. Your adrenaline's pumping."

Their advice to first-time spectators is to first watch a few rounds to become familiar with the game. Then, talk to participants between rounds, and definitely grab a pair of safety glasses and go into the pits. Each team has a 10-by-10 foot pit area with their tools, robot and students and mentors who, time permitting, would be happy to talk about their robot.

The Robodogs and 37 other teams, including Munster HorsePower, and RoboBlitz from Michigan City, are registered for this weekend's Tippecanoe District. This event will run from 9:30 a.m. to approximately 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, with awards to follow, at Harrison High School, 5701 North 50 West in West Lafayette.

Two other Indiana district events are scheduled before the Indiana State Championship on April 6-8 in Huntington, Indiana.

Team Hammond will join the other local teams plus 30 others from Indiana and Michigan at the St. Joseph District on March 10-12 at Penn High School in Mishawaka. The Perry Meridian District will take place in Indianapolis on the weekend of March 23-25.

Robots and fans will pack the UIC Pavilion in Chicago for the exciting Midwest Regional on March 29 to April 1.

Details can be found online at http://www.firstinspires.org, including links to each team website. Admission is free to all of these events.

Also free is Team Hammond's open house and robot demonstration at 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Area Career Center, 5727 Sohl Avenue in Hammond. Enter through Door H at the back of the building and take the stairs to the right.

Team Hammond, the Beast, has the distinction of holding the most World Champion titles in FIRST Robotics history with four titles, earned in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2004. The team has students from Hammond, Clark, Gavit and Morton high schools and the ACCU-Area Career Center.

Best wishes to all of our local teams in the upcoming FIRST Robotics competitions.

Joan Dittmann is a freelance columnist for the Post-Tribune.

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Robotics competition on tap this weekend - Chicago Tribune