Four robots were rolled out onto the floor of Ball Gymnasium, and after the first buzzer sounded, they sprang to life.
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology allowed several team chapters to test their robots in competition.
FIRST, which is in its 20th year, is an organization affiliated with NASA with a mission to inspire youth to get involved with science and technology through working together to build robots, according to their website.
High school students from all across Indiana took part in the scrimmage, controlling the robots from a safe distance.
The robots competed in games, this year's game being Logomotion, in which the robots had to pick up inflatable inner tubes shaped like the FIRST logo and place them on elevated pegs, each worth a different amount of points.
The Muncie/Delaware team, PhyXTGears, also took part in the games.
Cheryl LeBlanc, team coordinator and PT Orchid research technician, said it was an opportunity for students to gain skills they can use later.
"It's a great extracurricular," she said. "The students get hands-on experience to prepare them for the real world."
LeBlanc said all the teams could start building once they received the idea for the game. They have six weeks to complete their designs.
"Everyone starts out with the same kit," she said.
Some teams gain sponsorship and are given the means necessary to put more into building their robot.
"We go through this every year," LeBlanc said. "We need corporate sponsorship and more support from the community."
Despite the lack of sponsorship, LeBlanc knows it's all about the students.
"The robot is the vehicle to use as a teaching tool for the students for problem solving," she said. "They learn teamwork and how to achieve a goal."
Students can join the program without knowing anything about robots.
"Students don't have to have any prior knowledge to join," LeBlanc said. "They just have to have the interest and dedication."
LeBlanc said the program has helped students get involved with math and science programs.
"Close to 30 students in six years [have participated] and all but one of them went into post-secondary education in math, science or technology," she said.
Not all of the students involved in the program are in public school, LeBlanc said. Some of them go to private school and some are even homeschooled.
One homeschooled student, Andrew Rhine, is on the Muncie/Delaware team.
"This is my third year on the team," he said. "I do the programming. It takes about three weeks of really hard work."
Although Sunday's scrimmage didn't count toward any form of credit, teams got to see how their robots would compete in the regional competitions.
Most of the teams at the scrimmage will be at the Boilermaker Regional Competition March 17 to 19 at Purdue University.
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