An epic, worldwide battle of robots has drawn local high schoolers to Texas. KLCC’s Brian Bull caught up with one robotics team as it prepared to leave this morning.
The South Eugene Robotics Team (SERT) is off to Houston, where they’ll face off against 400 teams in what’s called the FIRST Robotics Competition.
Team mentor Lallie McKenzie says it’s been three years since they’ve competed at this level.
“It’s a very, very big deal," McKenzie tells KLCC. "We get to compete with and against some of the best teams in the world.”
SERT member Alyssa Jao explains this year’s theme.
“It’s called ‘First Power Up’, it’s all themed around those old arcade games," she says.
"You have two see-saw like things, and one’s taller, one’s shorter, and you try to keep control of yours while battling for the scale.”
Senior Alex Chamberlain describes their robot’s design.
“It’s got the drive train, lets it drive around. It’s got the lift mechanism, and also has a climbing mechanism.” (BULL: How long did it take your team to build this?) “It took us six weeks.”
Pleasant Hill students are also headed to Houston, for the FIRST Tech Challenge Competition.
Copyright 2018, KLCC.