Decorah High School Robotics Club students demonstrating the capabilties of their Robot 6252
The Decorah Rotary Club was honored to host Decorah High School (DHS) robotics coach Brett Wilker, along with many of the students from the DHS Robotics Club and their innovative robots, at our noon meeting on March 17th. Brett and the students offered a presentation and demonstration of their recent successful entries in the 2026 "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology" (FIRST) Tech Challenge (FTC) Robotics State of Iowa Competition held in Coralville on February 27-28. Both the freshman-sophomore and junior-senior robots placed high in several categories among the 72 teams in the competition. Included in the robotic tasks this year was the selective retrieval and launching of multi-colored balls into various targets in both operator controlled and autonomous operations. The students provided a fascinating and thoroughly entertaining presentation.
FTC is designed for head-to-head competition in engineering and technology. Teams of students design, build, and program robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. Teams, including coaches, mentors, and volunteers are required to develop strategies and build robots based on sound engineering principles. Awards are given for the competition as for well as for community outreach, design, and other real-world accomplishments. Participating students perform real-world application of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) concepts and participate in an atmosphere that encourages team building, entrepreneurship and sportsmanship.
For more fun photos of the DHS Robotics Club visit to the Rotary meeting please see the companion photo album at DHS Robotics Club Visits Decorah Rotary.
Photo credit: G. Mineart
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