The Starr’s Mill robotics team traveled to Jekyll Island last weekend for the Technology Student Association Vex Robotics competition. They placed second in the competition. 

Students worked together as a team to race a robotic car against other high schools. Each team member had a specific role to help, such as drivers, mechanics, spotters, lap counters, and communication teams between workers and drivers. 

“I was a spotter,” sophomore Quinn Bird said. “I was assigned to see what other people had for their designs, and see if we can use something they did for our robot.”

The robotics team had been working on their robotic car for about four months, and the work paid off. During the competition, the robot completed 68 laps, while the winner completed only two more with 70 laps. 

“Our team is very well put together,” engineering teacher Rob Bell said, “They made suggestions for improvements for the next race. They’re already making plans and improvements.”

Robotics racing is not the only kind of competition hosted by TSA. Other events such as architectural design, board game design, coding, and other STEAM-related challenges are available. All competitions focus on creativity, engineering, and teamwork.

The next race for the robotics team will be on March 15.