About Us

Team 5183, the Vikings, is a new robotics team from Van Hoosen Middle School, from Rochester Hills, Michigan. This is our first year in the FIRST robotics league and we are looking forward to many more. Our 2011-2012 season consists of 21 members and is currently growing. We are guided by Paul Jakey, Gary DePouw, and AdamBots (Team 245 of Adams High School, located in Rochester Hills, Michigan).

This year we are playing in the FIRST competition of Bowled Over. In this game, our robot attempts to use a lot of different methods to score points, including manipulating a bowling ball into specified areas, stacking crates, and transferring racquet balls into crates and other areas. It is important to note that during the entire process, each team is paired with another ally team (in an alliance).Visit our FTC page for more information about rules and scoring elements of the competition.

So far, our robot has had quite the interesting journey. It started out when our team went into separate groups to come up with different ideas. After a day of debating, we finally came up with what we thought was the best suited robot for the competition. With the help of AdamBots’ critiques and suggestions, we were able to finalize our model and start building. Our robot will be stressing the ability to get points as efficiently as possible.