High School Students Compete In Regional Robotics Competition

High school students from all over are gearing up for the first Green Country Regional Robotics Competition.

Students from across the state, country, and world are putting their robots to the test over the next few days for the chance to move on to the Global Championship. Teams of students from around the world have been preparing since January. 

That's when they're given a game that the robots must accomplish. This year, the challenge is for the robots to collect and shoot balls into a goal and climb on a monkey bar. Darryl MacKay is the head mentor for the Mayes County Robotics Team, one of the 37 teams competing. He says they have been working on their robot for around 12 hours a week. Besides the wheelbase, it's built from scratch. MacKay says each robot is unique and has its own way of completing tasks. 

But he says the skills that students learn in the process go beyond building a robot.

"Puts kids on a team, they learn the team aspects. We use a lot of power tools, we can weld, making them critically think some processes. It lets them put their STEM education to work, where they can apply it to world applications,” MacKay said. “Also, just boosts their self-confidence a great deal."

The first round of the competition is Friday, and the final round is Saturday.

 Qualifying teams will compete in the Global Championship in Houston in two weeks.