BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — Once your machine is in the ring, there's not much you can do but get behind the protective panels and hope you and your team have done your best because then it's time for the mayhem to begin.
"I mean, it's destruction, right? Like, who doesn't love that? And I like going at it; we're here for a while, so it's definitely fun to build and drive it around. Even though I lost, I had a great time. It's really fun," said Luke Walmsley, Bloomsburg Area High School.
In between battles at the 11th Annual Rage in the Cage high school robotics competition, teams are working in the hallways of Bloomsburg Area High School to solve problems they encounter in battle.
"Rewired the engines to make them work. And once we got them working, we put them in the bottom, prepared for this competition," said Blaise Keister, Midd-West High School.
Rewiring engines is just one of the many skills these students are learning by participating in this competition organized by the National Robotics League outside the classroom.
"Engineering time management, so the one that we're not, we don't have how to drive, but mostly I'm learning to solder stuff like," said Luke.
"How to hook up ESCs and how to rewire motors and receivers," said Blaise.
"How to put on bolts and fixing belts and how to get good control and driving and stuff for other things," said Brayden Leerank, Montgomery High School.
The league was started by the National Tool and Manufacturing Association to help inspire students to enter careers in STEM fields.