Some area robotics students will find themselves in Texas this week to compete in the First Robotics World Championships. Making the trip to the championships even more impressive is the fact that this is their first year to compete in the robotics program.
Poultronix Team 9717 is a robotics team made of 15 students from the four schools in the Scott County School District, including six students from Lake High School and Sebastopol Attendance Center. According to lead mentor Alissa Gibbs, the team’s name was derived from the county’s leading industry.
“We couldn’t pick one particular school mascot to market our robot, which is part of the competition,” said Gibbs. “So, since Scott County is known or the poultry industry, we would use that in our name.”
Within Poultronix, the students are divided into smaller teams consisting of Electrical, Mechanical, Marketing, and Coding. Each team of students worked together for 8 weeks to build their robot, with some mentoring guidance from engineers at Raytheon and parents.
In their inaugural season of competing in the FIRST Robotics Competitions, Poultronix has competed in two regional competitions, winning the only two rookie awards that are given in a season. In their very first competition at the Magnolia Regional, the team won the Rookie All Star Award. The team them took part in the Bayou Regional, where they won the Rookie Inspiration Award.
Gibbs said that the teams first year has been incredible.
“It’s been a wild ride. We didn’t really expect it because we were thinking this would be our first year, it will be a learning curve,” Gibbs said. “Then we competed well for a rookie team at the Magnolia Regional and won the highest rookie award that you can actually win. And after winning the other the other rookie award at the Bayou Regional, we received a wild card invitation to the World Championships in Houston.”
According to Gibbs, the team is looking to do their very best at the First Robotics World Championships and are aiming for the Rookie All Star Award that will be given this week in Houston. She added that the team is excited to represent their communities.
“Poultronix has had an incredible rookie season, and making it to the First Championships in Houston, Texas is a testament to our teams work ethic, dedication, and enthusiasm,” Gibbs said. “We are humbled by the support the community has given to our team, and we hope to be the best representation of our communities at the world champs!”
