Courtesy photo Shown are a few of the BraveBots during the Michigan State Championship, which took place over spring break. The Gladstone robotics team has done so well this season that they are now at the world championship in Houston, Texas, which continues through Saturday.

HOUSTON — 601 robotics teams from around the globe are currently in Texas for the 2025 world championship of FIRST Robotics Competition — including a team from Gladstone. The event challenges high school-age students to work together to design, engineer, build, program and drive machines of their own creations to complete tasks in matches with other teams.

After performing exceedingly well in regional competitions in March and then at the Michigan State Championship the first weekend in April, one local team — number 4391, the Gladstone BraveBots — are now facing other high-scoring teams at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.

In rental vehicles, one of which tows the trailer containing the BraveBots’ robot, the team of students, coaches and mentors hit the road last Sunday, putting in 12 hours of driving on one day and another 12 hours the next, said Coach Tim Barron. Including the 27 students team members, about 50 people traveled in the caravan, not counting the parents who went down separately.

“We fundraise year-round so that we prepare budget for this opportunity,” Barron said.

The BraveBots have had strong teams the last several years and made similar trips in the past.

Of the 601 teams that progressed to the world championships, 83 are from Michigan. They’re mingling with teams from Armenia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Israel, India, Turkey, and other nations.

“Our last match was interesting. We played with a team from Can ada and a team from China,” said Barron, speaking to the Daily Press from the busy convention center between matches on Thursday. “We set the high score on the court. So that was really cool — because you play with people from other countries, and we played well together. That’s a cool thing about coming to worlds.”

In the previous match, they had played with a team from Australia and another Michigan team.

The BraveBots had five matches on Thursday and have five on Friday. Playoffs will be on Saturday.