New Student Information
The Mars Robotics Association is a competitive robotics organization based in Mars, PA. We have programs for children in 4th-12th grade. We’re a community team and have students from several different school districts, as well as cyber and homeschooled students. Our teams are part of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) - the leading, not-for-profit STEM engagement program for kids worldwide. All of our students learn life skills. These are team sports, so they get experience working together as a team to design, build, program and present at competitions. FIRST is about building students, not just building robots. The robots are the means, but not the goal of the program, and of our organization.
We currently have 2 different programs for kids to participate in.
FIRST LEGO League - 4th-8th grade
We build robots out of LEGO parts. Robots are built and programmed to complete tasks on a 4’ x 8’ board. There are typically about 12 tasks available to attempt. Teams also do a research project on the theme, and present it to a set of judges.
Mars Robotics currently supports two LEGO League teams.
Meetings - Sunday 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Competition Season - September-December
Offseason - January-August
Competitions - Western PA coordinates a series of scrimmages from Kick Off to the Western PA Grand Championship event.
FIRST Tech Challenge - 7th to 12th grade
Robots are built with erector set type parts and programmed to compete in a field competition with and against other robots. One match a team will be your partner, in another, they may be your competitor. Teams are also judged on business and marketing skills. Students who do not plan to go into a robotics career, can also grow within the FIRST program by helping the team with business and marketing tasks.
Mars Robotics currently supports two FTC teams.
Meetings - Sundays 6:00PM - 9:00PM and also on Thursdays at 6:00PM-9:00PM.
Competition Season - September-March
Offseason - March-August
Competitions - 2-4 competitions per year. One is usually local, the others are 2-6 hours away.
Come to a meeting and see what the teams are about!
Our meetings are held at 301 Arch Street in Mars, PA 16046. Enter through the back door which has a sign on it, and go down the stairs.
Contact info@marsroboticsassociation.org for more information
