The Automatons

05/21/2026

Extending best wishes to our graduating seniors, Jeffery, Cooper, and Bryton, for their future endeavors.

05/21/2026

🚨 The Automatons are still looking for a new Head Coach! 🤖

FIRST Robotics is an incredible opportunity for students to design, build, program, and compete with a 120+ pound robot while learning teamwork, leadership, engineering, and problem solving along the way.

Our team means a lot to students, parents, mentors, and the community, and we want to continue creating these opportunities for local kids for years to come.

You do not need to be an expert in robotics to make a huge impact. The team already has mentors, parents, and students ready to help support the program. We just need someone willing to lead and help guide the team forward.

📄 Full posting and contact information:
https://files.smartsites.parentsquare.com/5329/high_school_robotics_coach.pdf

Please share if you know someone who may be interested in helping inspire the next generation of builders, creators, and problem solvers!

05/11/2026

The Automatons are looking for a new coach. Please reach out to the superintendent.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day to all our robotics moms out there.

05/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1cAtPAdikT/?mibextid=wwXIfr

05/01/2026

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
After much consideration and heartfelt conversations with my family, I will be stepping down as Head Coach of The Automatons Team 7768 effective May 11, 2026.

Coaching the Automatons for the past four years has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my ten-year robotics coaching/mentoring journey. Watching our students grow through STEM, teamwork, problem‑solving, and competition has been an incredible privilege. Their dedication, creativity, and resilience — especially coming from a small rural community competing against much larger and better‑funded programs — is something our entire area should be proud of.

As the cost of FIRST Robotics continues to rise and financial resources in Iron County remain limited, this moment presents a natural opportunity to consider consolidating the two Iron County FIRST Robotics teams. A unified program could strengthen long‑term sustainability and ensure that students continue to have access to high‑quality robotics opportunities.

I am deeply grateful to the students, mentors, families, sponsors, and community members who have supported The Automatons. I will always remain a strong supporter of youth STEM in Iron County and the mission of FIRST Robotics.

I am extremely grateful to my wife, Tracie, whose love and patience have carried me through ten years of late practices, crazy road trips, “we’ll be home soon” nights, and the constant parade of robot parts on our dining room table. She has supported every moment of this journey, even the chaotic ones, and I could not have done any of it without her unwavering encouragement.

While I’m stepping away from coaching, I’m not stepping away from robotics. I’ll still be mentoring and volunteering where I can, and I still hold onto the dream of creating a robotics center — a place with a full practice field that teams across the U.P. can call home.

Thank you for believing in these students and in the power of robotics education.
— Coach Van

04/25/2026

Go CopperBots!

The Keweenaw High School robotics team is coming off the team winning its division in last weekend's state championship.

04/24/2026

Team awards are among the most prestigious honors one can receive at an event, particularly when they come from peers playing on other fields.
Thank you to FRC Team 1711 Raptors from Traverse City for the DEFENSIVE ARCHITECT Award.
and
FRC 1189 The Gearheads of Grosse Pointe for their PERSEVERANCE Award. We wish The Gearheads the best at WORLDS.

04/21/2026

Our friends to the north the Calumet CopperBots have qualified for WORLDS and need help getting there.

The Calumet CopperBots are headed to the WORLD Championship!

This past weekend at the Michigan State Robotics Championship, our small but mighty team delivered an incredible performance—earning a spot on the #1 alliance, winning our division, and finishing as state semifinalists.

Now, we’ve qualified to compete in Houston, Texas against 600 of the best teams in the world
For a student-led team from a small community, this is HUGE.

But we need your help to get there.
Travel, registration, and lodging costs total over $15,000, and our team operates on a very tight budget. Families are already stepping up—driving students, transporting equipment, and packing into hotel rooms to make this possible.
Our community has helped us come this far—now we’re asking for one more push.
Help us show the world what Calumet students can do.
🤖Donate if you can
🤖Share this post to spread the word
Every bit helps—and means the WORLD to our team.

https://gofund.me/9f4a49680