Placing first in ability to cross the barriers, and fifth in the District Championship against 64 teams, the RoboRebels qualified for the World Championship at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO from April 27-30.
The team finished 10th overall in their district against 171 New England teams, including the one who set the FIRST Robotics World record for points scored at their district championship.
The Championship itself is four difficult, but fun filled days of competition, training and volunteerism. The students will be involved in the behind the scenes activities that are required to run an event which hosts over 600 teams from around the world.
There are expected to be over 25,000 team members, mentors, coaches and families at the event, not including the spectators. The team also jokes that this is the last true World Championship, since the event is now so large it is being split between two locations after this season.
Two years ago, they placed seventh in the Worlds. The event will stream live starting April 28 via www.usfirst.org and the team website.
The team number is FRC 1153.
Having taken a 30 hour bus ride back from St. Louis two years ago, the team will be flying this year, mumbling the words, “never again. . . .”
There was little more than a week to raise the $25,000 needed to make this journey, so a Go Fund Me link was set up through the Walpole Robotics website and Facebook pages. They will also be collecting, one nickel at a time, at their biannual Bottle and Can drive in front of the Plimpton building, June 11.
For those interested in learning more about the team, visit the team’s website at walpolerobotics.org.
The team invites students in grades three and up, along with their parents, to join them at “Battle Cry,” an off season event hosted by Worcester Polytechnic University from May 20-21. There are 40 robotics teams attending from around New England.
