The Gladstone BraveBots, FIRST Robotics Competition Team 4391, proudly pose with the banner they earned as the event winner in Belleville, Mich. (Courtesy photo)

GLADSTONE — FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 4391, otherwise known as the BraveBots from Gladstone, braved the roads after the fiercest snowstorm of the season and returned home with a winning blue banner from their district event in Belleville, Mich. this past weekend. The local winners and others will bring their energy to Escanaba in another FIRST in Michigan district event in a couple weeks.

High school teams participating in FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) are challenged with building a robot to complete tasks that change based on a new theme each year. The season and game called “Rebuilt” launched Jan. 10, 2026 and is meant to correlate to archaeology and revisiting the past. Robots are tasked with collecting “fuel” — foam balls — crossing obstacles and climbing a tower.

At this stage in the season, teams from various schools or sponsored by businesses, organizations or groups travel to compete with other teams in their district. This past weekend, March 19 to 21, the FIRST in Michigan (FIM) District Belleville Event presented by DTE hosted 39 teams at Belleville High School — a route that was 430 miles from Gladstone. The trip is six-and-a-half hours in ideal conditions.

This year’s BraveBots roster is filled with 32 high-schoolers — most of whom are from Gladstone but with one from Rapid River. Thirty of those kids attended the Belleville event.

On Thursday the 19th, “We left in the early hours to beat bridge closures, so some of the kids went right to sleep,” said BraveBots Coach Tim Barron, referring to their mission as “Operation Spring Storm.”

The team left behind mountains of snow and road closures as they made the long trek downstate.

“When they woke up, they thought they were in a different country with no snow, mid-60 temperatures, and you could smell grass,” Barron said.

Despite being behind schedule after losing precious build time during the blizzard over St. Urho’s Day that closed schools for five days, the BraveBots worked out the final kinks of their robot on the road before the Week 3 event in Belleville.

Every match presented a challenge; the robot broke down every match but one, the team reported.

“We usually have time to fine-tune during practice, but with school closures, we just had to make do,” said Barron. “It wasn’t ideal, but we made it work.”

Part of “making it work” meant leaning on a familiar ally, Team 1701, the Robocubs from Detroit. The Robocubs, who team up with the BraveBots in summer competitions, helped by 3D printing replacement parts and lending tools and technical support.

The BraveBots battled through the qualification rounds with an impressive 10-2 record and were selected for playoffs by the second-seeded BelleVillians, the host team. They joined forces with the Linc-Bots from Ypsilanti to form a powerful alliance. Together, they unseated the top-seeded team and advanced to the finals, where they faced none other than their supporters, the Robocubs.

“It’s always bittersweet to face an ally, especially one that helped keep your robot running,” said Barron. “In the robotics world, we call that ‘coopertition’ — cooperation and competition hand-in-hand.”

Operation Spring Storm was a success: the BraveBots and their alliance triumphed over the Robocubs in a best-of-three showdown, taking the finals 2-1 and bringing home a cherished blue banner as the event winner.

Downstate teams were amazed the Yoopers had even made it to the event because of the blizzard. “Many pictures, stories, and Yooper bars were shared,” Barron laughed. At one point, the game announcer even joked that the BraveBots’ machine “looked like a snowblower” as it launched game pieces across the field. “We had a good time, strengthened old bonds, made new friends, and made our hometown proud,” Barron said.

The BraveBots’ next district event will be in Escanaba on April 9 through 11.

After district events conclude and points are counted, the top teams in Michigan will be invited to attend the state championship in Saginaw, which begins April 16.