A youth robotics team based in Shawnee, Oklahoma recently won an engineering award at an international robotics competition in Houston, Texas.
The Sprockets #2341 robotics team, based out of the Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee, won the Engineering Inspiration Award in their division at the FIRST Championship robotics competition, which features robotics teams from around the world.
Each year, the FIRST robotics competitions feature a game created by Disney for the robots to compete in. The game remains the same the entire season, so it allows the teams to improve their robot as the season goes on. The Sprockets team spent weeks brainstorming, prototyping and building a robot that would complete this year’s game. By the time the championship rolled around in late April, the Sprockets had spent months fine-tuning their robot for the international stage.
The team experienced fierce competition at the championship in Houston. The competition included around 800 student robotics teams from 43 countries. The Sprockets competed in a district with around 75 teams. “Once you get to worlds, same game, just the best of the best of the best are there playing,” sponsor Lori Tucker Farris said. Although the team was there to compete, they also enjoyed meeting teams from all around the world, such as Turkey, the Netherlands, Thailand and Japan.
A variety of awards are given to teams at the FIRST Championship. The Engineering Inspiration Award is awarded to teams who have demonstrated success in garnering respect and appreciation for engineering in their community. The award also emphasizes community outreach efforts. The Sprockets have spent their time and resources promoting STEM and robotics throughout the Shawnee community. They frequently talk to local elementary and middle school students about STEM and robotics, donate Legos to the OU Children’s Hospital through their Lego drive, and travel to rural schools to have STEM camps for children who might not have access to STEM and engineering training otherwise.
The Sprockets were recognized by Shawnee Mayor Ed Bolt and the city council at a recent city council meeting for winning the Engineering Inspiration Award at the world competition. The team was excited to be recognized for their achievement. “The Mayor let one of the girls gavel in the meeting that night,” sponsor Ron Markum said. “She got to call the meeting to order, it was pretty cool for her.”
The team collected a variety of awards throughout the competition season. They won the Engineering Inspiration Award at the Oklahoma Regional competition in early March, which allowed them to qualify for the championship in Houston. The regional featured 46 teams from five states. At the Green Country Regional in early April, the team picked up the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors and were also named Regional Finalists. The Sprockets competed against 36 other teams from six different states and a team from Mexico. They also received the Chairman’s Award at a competition in Arkansas.
After capping off a very successful season with an international award in Houston, the Sprockets are already looking towards next season. The game for next season does not come out until January, but “they will through this summer and this fall go back and work on basic skill sets,” said Roger Farris.
The Sprockets robotics team is always looking for sponsors and opportunities for community engagement. Visit the Sprockets team #2341 Facebook page or sprocketsteam2341. weebly.com to learn more or get involved!
