Three teams from Northville High School, Bedford High School in Monroe County and Central High School in Traverse City have emerged as the best in Michigan State FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics District Championship.

These teams were the top ones among the 102 teams that competed at the state finals that took place at the Deltaplex Arena in Grand Rapids last week.

Michigan is a huge player in FIRST, which is a worldwide competition. The state already has more robotics teams than any other state.

Gail Alpert, president of FIRST in Michigan, which organizes the series of competitions that began earlier this year and culminated with the state event said that it was the biggest state finals since the competition began in 2009.

There has been a huge growth in robotics teams in the state thanks to state funding that has helped with startup costs. The number of teams, which was 137 teams five years ago, increased to 347 this year.

The competition was expanded by the organizers to allow more teams to compete. There were multiple practice fields.

Last week, Gov. Rick Snyder, a big supporter of FIRST, announced that Detroit will be one of two cities that will HOST the finals of the world competition that be held at Cobo Center and Ford Field from 2018 to 2020.

Snyder was presented the Make It Loud award by Dean Kamen, FIRST founder On Saturday, the final day of the state competition. That award will go to a person nationally who does the most to increase awareness of robotics.

About 90 Michigan teams will advance to the world competition, which will take place in St. Louis later this month.