Stateline Robotics qualifies for the World Robotics Championship | MyStateline
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The Stateline Robotics Team is headed to Houston to compete in the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) World Robotics Championship.
“Being just the second robot that we’ve ever sent to Worlds in our first time,” said Competition Lead Ian Schmidt. “It’s just it’s the coolest thing ever.”
The last time Stateline Robotics qualified for the championships was in 2018.
“Straight out they’re trying to make our robot as simple and efficient as possible and seeing our design being able to succeed and winning awards for that as well is great,” said Mechanical Captain Aiden Wisch.
“Sharing this incredible experience with my entire team makes me so happy and I’m so grateful that we were able to win and attend worlds,” said Business Lead Cora Whiteman.
“Just being there and being able to watch my friends have so much fun and being able to take pictures of it all and see what they made was successful I think was amazing,” said Captain of Documentations and Communications team Clare Furukawa.
24 students make up the team and they are tasked with a few challenges for their robot, the bird, to complete. They hope to rise above the competition.
“We can either shoot them up into a speaker or we can drop them down into an amp to score points,” said Schmidt. “And then at the end of the game, we can climb on top of the chain for additional points.”
The 2024 team has already made history in the program which started in 2012. Whether they win or lose, what they learned along the way is what they will take with them for the rest of their lives.
“Steam robotics can be used in so many different ways,” said Whiteman. “It’s not just used as a way to win a competition as we did this year, but also used to benefit real people in our community.”
“I came into this club pretty much knowing nothing about it,” said Furukawa. “And I believe in this club having a whole wealth of knowledge, knowing what I want to do in life and having a career plan in front of me.”
“We might be [an] organization, but above all, we are a group of people,” said Furukawa. “We are doing something we love and sharing our experiences with the world.”
You can check out their World Championship performance here and follow the team’s Facebook and X account.
