Girard High's robotics team among 6 headed to world championship

Staff report

GIRARD

RoboCats, the robotics team from Girard High School, was among six teams to qualify Saturday in Washington, D.C., for the FIRST World Robotics Championship in St. Louis in late April.

This year’s contest, Ultimate Ascent, challenged students to design and build remote-controlled robots that could fling Frisbee-type discs through targets. Robots that grappled their way up pyramids on the competition field earned extra points.

The FIRST Robotics Competition brought together 58 teams from the Mid-Atlantic region, plus teams from Israel and Brazil. DC’s Walter Washington Convention Center played host to the event, now in its fifth year. More than 3,000 students, supporters and spectators turned out over the two-day event to cheer on contestants.

Besides the RoboCats, the other teams to qualify are Team Krunch, from East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs, Fla.; The Brazillian Machine, from Provincia de Sao Pedro High School in Porto Alegre, Brazil; ILITE Robotics, from Battlefield High School in Prince William County, Va,; Epsilon Delta, from Herndon H.S. in Herndon, Va.; and Team Illusion, a community-based team from Greenbelt, Md.

The RoboCats are seeking support from individuals and local businesses to raise funds for the trip to St. Louis.