Novi Robotics Center celebrates grand opening

NOVI — The Novi Community School District robotics program finally has a place to call its own — the Novi Robotics Center at 25299 Taft Road — where students can battle it out with teams from across the globe on their own turf. 

“Every time I walk by the window and see the kids working on the field and doing different dry practices, I still have to pinch myself,” said Janet Bloom, sponsorship/finance mentor for Frog Force 503 and vice president of the Novi Robotics Foundation. 

Before the new center opened in December for the robotics program, the program utilized some classrooms at Novi High School and at one point had also borrowed some space at 10 Mile and Haggerty Road.  Bloom recalled that the building on Haggerty had no heat. 

“So, we were there in our coats and our hats, and our gloves and our scarves, and working on trying to make sure we got a great robot going,” Bloom said.

“I’ve been with the team since day one and proudly so, and all I can say is, ‘Finally.’ Finally the team is getting what it deserves. One could say it took a little while, because I think the team has been speaking and asking for a facility, not as great as this one, pretty much since the first days of the robotics team,” said Guenther Braeuner, retired Magna employee. “And to put it in perspective, I had a full head of dark hair when that happened.”

The robotics program celebrated the Novi Robotics Center’s grand opening with an open house Feb. 26, showcasing the work of the students, schools and local businesses that offer and utilize robotics, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the new battlefield. 

Returning to the district for the event was Jennifer Harvey, a now-retired Novi art teacher who founded the NCSD robotics program. 

Harvey recounted the program’s history. According to Harvey, the team was originally called F.A.T.E. (Finding Achievement Through Education) and its mascot was the Grim Reaper.  The team would later become known as Frog Force. Harvey said they changed the name because she believed they wanted a green mascot. 

Harvey said the first thing they did after forming the team was to seek a sponsor. During the search process, she said, she developed a robot and game demonstration for the superintendent, Novi district leadership, the school board, the City Council, the Chamber of Commerce and special invited guests. She said she made sure to invite every single engineering company in the area she could find, along with radio and TV stations, and four FIRST Robotics teams.  

Harvey recalled building an entire playing field, such as the one they now have at the Novi Robotics Center, for the demonstration.

“The night the demo arrived, the music boomed, the huge loading door opened and through the billowing smoke that we had created, four robots glided into view, and then we got down to a competition,” Harvey said. 

She said the event was sponsored by Huskey Injection Molding Systems, who allowed them to use their entire building for the event, and their chef to make appetizers and cater the event. Other sponsors for that first event included Blair Bowman, owner of Vibe Credit Union Showplace, and General Motors Wixom, who helped to build the original field and sponsored some of the games. 

At the end of the event, a division of Magna International was secured as the program’s primary sponsor. Magna provided support, a workspace and mentors.

“That changed everything,” Harvey said. 

“The mentors taught us how to robot,” Harvey said. “They guided us, encouraged us and sometimes said, ‘Maybe let’s try that again.’”

Through the program, Harvey said, students learn how to design, use teams, wire pneumatic mechanical systems, and compete.

Braeuner said the original team had 25 members, and the focus was on mechanical design.

“We used pencil and paper,” he said. “We had rolls of paper that we drew up the robots on.”

He said the team is now probably in the range of 150 students and is a 365-days-a-year operation that utilizes the latest technology. 

Five years after the program was initiated, Frog Force won the 2005 World Championship with a victory that came down to the final two seconds. 

“The real prize wasn’t the trophy. The real prize was in the students’ faces the moment they realized, ‘I can do this,’” Harvey said.

After that, the team would go on to host the FIRST annual kickoff, something that For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology had never allowed before. 

“Since stepping away from Frog Force due to medical issues, I have watched its evolution with enormous pride,” Harvey said. “The story of Frog Force truly is one for the books.”

According to Harvey, the students who have participated in the program have gone on to become engineers, doctors, nurses, attorneys, a Yale physics professor, a patent attorney and more. 

“What makes Frog Force special then and what makes it special now is simple: the ingenuity, the brilliance of students and a community that believes in learning by doing,” Harvey said. “And if Frogforce has taught us anything over the last 25 years, it’s this: When Novi gives students the tools, the trust, the opportunity, the facility, there’s absolutely no limit to what they can build.”

The center was funded using the 2019 bond.