For everyone
ORHS is taking on the world (championships)
The Secret City Wildbots pose next to their robot in between competitions in Knox- ville. Pictured are Devin Slatery, fabrication lead; from left, Reed McFarland, design and engineering lead; Silas Rauden, programming lead; Ashley Tacovelli, system engineering lead; Lindsey Fiscor, team captain; and Imelda Marcus-Brock, business lead. (photo:Ben Pounds )
This championship with “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST)” was held Tuesday, April 18.
The Wildbots earned their way to the world championship in March after finishing eighth overall and earning the Engineering Inspiration Award at FIRST’s Arkansas Regional.
That award is sponsored by NASA and celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community, a news release stated.
“We are a very young team,” Wildbot lead mentor and teacher Mark Buckner said in the release.
“We had six strong, experienced senior leaders graduate last year, so this is a rebuilding year for us. But I couldn’t be more proud of this team and their hard work and performance so far this year.”
Triceptasauraus, the Wildbots’ competition robot this year, weighs 118 pounds. Students on the team designed, manufactured and programmed this robot.
While already qualified for the world championship, the Wildbots in the meantime competed in Knoxville at the Smoky Mountain Regional FIRST Robotics Competition at the Knoxville Coliseum Friday, March 31, and Saturday, April 1.
There, the Wildbots won seven matches and lost three, ranking eighth out of 38 teams and placing as regional finalists. The competition involved moving cones and cubes and balancing on a platform with other robots. The teams took turns working with or against each other depending on the match.
At the Smoky Mountain Regional, the team also won the Excellence in Engineering Award, and its mentor, Lisa Buckner, won the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award.
Lindsey Fiscor, a team captain, told The Courier-News about some of the benefits of the program.
“I think it’s really prepared me for college,” Fiscor said, adding she plans to go into engineering with a possible minor in computer science.
“I get to do a lot of things,” she said, adding that it was fun to be around the other people involved.
“Nothing here can be done individually,” she said.
“Everyone’s helping everyone. You never know when you’re going to need help.”