Wallops hosts robotics competition kick- off
Students were on the edge of their seats at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility awaiting the reveal of the 2015 “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” better known as “FIRST” Robotics competition.
The challenge is to build a robot surrounding the new theme “recycle rush.”
Jacob Mast, a Snow Hill High School says, “This is obviously a very complex game right out the gate, and we’re honestly terrified.”
Four teams representing Accomack, Worcester, Wicomico, and North Hampton counties will construct a robot that can remove and stack recycle bins and crates, receive waste, and perform a series of other functions.
The students will then compete against robots created by other students from around the world.
Amy Davis, the NASA FIRST robotics coordinator says, “The hope of inspiring roboticists and of course getting students to pursue a stem career, any form of stem career is one of the goals that NASA has for their educational outreach.”
NASA sponsors one competition for each team. The cost can climb up to more than six thousand dollars. Robot parts are donated by Christopher Newport University, and students are wasting no time, already brainstorming.
Ethan Ames, a student at Parkside High School, “Everyone seems to think the idea of like a fork lift or something to lift up the crates is the best way to go.”
Nick Mosher, a student at Nandua High School says, “The strategy is how you think other teams are going to tackle the game, and determining whether you want to be a primary scorer or an auxiliary, kind of helping team.”
Adith Thummalapalli, a student at Bennett High School says, “We have the 3D modeling side of it, we have the actual building of the robot, and then we have to wire the robot up, and program it to do whatever the task it.”
The teams work on the robots six days a week, for six weeks, but just like any other extracurricular activity, parents say all students are required to keep their grades up; otherwise the robots are going down.
