A Raymond-based community robotics team will be going head-to-head against rivals from all over the world in Texas next week, after winning a provincial competition. Read More
Team only came together three years ago, when family moved to southern Alberta from Ontario
Team only came together three years ago, when family moved to southern Alberta from Ontario
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A Raymond-based community robotics team will be going head-to-head against rivals from all over the world in Texas next week, after winning a provincial competition.
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Team ASAP, made up of eight high school students, works out of their coaches’ basement in Raymond, a southern Alberta town of roughly 4,500 residents about 200 kilometres southeast of Calgary.
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With their custom-designed robot, featuring an innovative dual-arm system, ASAP qualified for the 2025 FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in Houston from April 15 to 19.
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At a regional southern Alberta competition held in Calgary in February, ASAP was part of the winning alliance and also won the prestigious INSPIRE award, another way a team can progress toward the world championship. ASAP then repeated the feat, again winning both at the provincial competition in Red Deer in March to qualify for next week’s competition.
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“Everyone was just astounded that we could pull that off,” said coach Mike Larson.
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The team has been up and running for about three years. Just over three years ago, Larson, wife Katie and their family moved to Raymond and began looking for a robotics team for their son, who had been on a robotics team in Ontario. With nothing in the area, they started their own team through global non-profit For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST).
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In the first year, they recruited nine or 10 team members and built their first robot.
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“We had no funding, and so our robot looked like we just grabbed stuff from the dump or whatever and put it together,” said Larson, an actuary who does a bit of programming but had no experience building robots.
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But gradually, ASAP was able to put more money into the robot and get better parts, said Larson.
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ASAP spreading its wings across southern Alberta
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In a community known for its sports, Raymond’s robotics team started filling a missing need in the community, said Larson.
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ASAP has helped get a school team started in Raymond as well as another team in the nearby town of Magrath, and next year is helping get a team going in another neighbouring community, Stirling.
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“There’s a lot of interest, and so that’s why we’re creating more teams is because they just can’t accommodate that many kids on one team,” said Larson.
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Two team members who’ve moved on are now taking university majors related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and all the current member are “super interested” in robotics and will likely go into related fields, he said.