Thank you for your interest in The Wire Clippers Robotics team! We appreciate the time you are taking to learn more about our program. We are The Wire Clippers, the Portsmouth High School’s robotics team. The team is part of a larger organization called FIRST, which stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” and was created by Dean Kamen over thirty years ago. We’ve existed since 2016, and have participated in every (besides 2020, but we all know how that went) FIRST competition since then.
We’re completely self-funded and student-run. After our necessary fundraising efforts (which you can take part in), we have six weeks to build and program a robot to complete tasks. We’re a passionate little group that’s enthusiastic and driven.
At the start of the FIRST robotics season teams are presented a complex set of challenges that their robot must be able to complete. Teams have around six weeks from the release of the challenge to design and construct a robot that can meet the assigned challenges. We call those six weeks “build season”, and it is the busiest time for our team. However, we also meet preseason and postseason for community outreach, mentoring Lego Robotics teams, team training, and preparation. Regardless of the season, one of our goals is to have fun… lots of fun!
The competitions mirror those of sporting events, with high energy and large fan turnouts, but diverge with the spirit of community. Teams help each other be successful! Winning teams gain rank points that up their standings in a global leaderboard, advancing them into further competitions. There’s plenty of additional information about what a robotics team does on FIRST’s website.
Our team doesn’t only compete through the performance of our robot, we also compete for numerous awards that recognize excellence in outreach, community service, entrepreneurship, safety, and spirit. During our most recent full season, our team made it to the semi-finals and won awards in entrepreneurship, safety, and spirit categories.