Sussex Scrimmage

Carly Ungerer

This upcoming weekend marks the Sussex Scrimmage, a yearly tradition and pillar of the local FIRST® community. On Sunday, February 18, twenty-nine regional robotics teams and over 1200 people will arrive at Hamilton High School to test their robots they have built over the past six weeks.

Each year, FIRST® Robotics releases a new game, where robots must complete specific tasks and challenges to score points. This year’s game is called Crescendo, where teams must score orange rings called “notes” into “speakers” and “amps” and end the game by climbing the chain on “the stage.” The field, which is built and set up by Charger Robotics each year, is just one facet of the event. Instead of renting a field of their own, team members spend time following the game release building field elements out of wood, a task which looks different every year. 

Charger Robotics’ Sussex Scrimmage isn’t just about the robots or the game, but also serves to highlight skill sharing and other programs. This year, FIRST®’s theme is STEM in the Arts, so there is a specific emphasis on turning STEM into STEAM, science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. To reflect this, Charger Robotics has partnered with Hamilton’s art and music organizations, who will be setting up booths and demonstrations alongside FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) and FIRST® Lego League (FLL) teams.

Teams that attend the Sussex Scrimmage get to break their robots here, not at competitions, and test strategies, designs, and skills. Getting this jump-start on collecting information about their own designs and other teams’ gives teams a strategic advantage before entering the competition season, and demonstrating to the public helps promote STEM.

The event will be open to the public this Sunday from 12pm-4pm, and all members of the community are encouraged to come see the hard work the high school robotics teams have put in and to see the impact of STEM on our community!