Robotics team heads to Houston
By Brandon Davis
Published in News on April 12, 2017 10:03 AM
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Wally the robot was built by 25 students of the 4-H Robotics program in Wayne County.
Wally the robot and 25 high school students arrived in Houston Wednesday, April 19, to compete in a national robotics tournament.
Wayne County students involved in the 4-H robotics program built the 120-pound robot in six weeks to enter him in the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics World Championship inside the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The competition will last until Saturday, April 22.
Laura Alley, a 4-H Robotics mentor, said the students named Wally after Wallace Simmons, who started the team seven years ago. She said Simmons retired from the robotics program last December.
Alley said the team, which is known as Team 3737 and the Roto-Raptors, is made up of 23 students who are either home schooled or who attend Wayne County schools. She said two students are from Raleigh and Wilson.
Alley said students represent schools such as Charles B. Aycock High School, Spring Creek High School, Rosewood High School, Wayne School of Engineering and Wayne Country Day School.
The Roto-Raptors ranked first at the Pitt County NC district event in March and ranked eighth in the FIRST NC State Championship last week. Alley said the team qualified ninth out of 59 teams for the championship in Houston.
"This is the first time we have ever gone to the Worlds," she said.
Alley said Wally's gears are made of Lexan polycarbonate sheeting, and his wheels were designed with Mecanum wheels to help Wally move easily from side to side to grab pegs.
Wally will compete against other robots throughout the competition to grab the most pegs and score the most points, and the team who scores the most points will enter the Einstein competition on the final day to possibly win an award. The team will also have their names published on the FIRST Robotics website at firstchampionship.org, according to a member of the championship headquarters in New Hampshire.
Alley said the team set up a GoFundMe page -- gofundme.com/4h-robotics-frc-team-3737 -- to receive help for the $20,000 trip to Houston. She said Qualcomm, the company who sponsors the Worlds, paid the $5,000 registration for the competition.
"It's just an excellent experience for the students to have hands-on learning," Alley said. "And we're excited about taking them up to the next step."