CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — After weeks of programming and prototyping, the ‘LibraryBots’ of Chesterfield are taking their robot on the road.
The youth robotics team will compete in the VA First Tech Challenge Qualifier I in Harrisonburg on Saturday, Jan. 20th. Participating teams are expected to travel from across Virginia, as well as West Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.
The group designs and builds their robot at Central Library in Chesterfield. The mixed-gender team ranges in ages from 7th through 12th grade, with members attending public school, private school, and homeschool.
“We really all get along well, we push each other,” said Sara, a High School junior on the team. “If someone is slacking off a little bit, I’ll be there like ‘Come on guys, get back on track.’”
At the start of each season, First Tech Challenge, an international robotics competition organization, releases a video explaining the tasks the robots must complete. ‘LibraryBots’ says their group immediately starts brainstorming ideas after seeing the videos.
This year’s challenge required the robot to pick up ‘pixels,’ or hexagonal disks, off the ground and stack them vertically onto a tilted board.
“[Our robot] used to have a claw to pick up the pixel, but it wasn’t working,” said Sara. “So then, we had to figure out a different way to do it. That’s been our main challenge.”
In the end, the group settled on a bell-shaped mechanism.
“Because of the wideness of the funnel, it’s really helpful for the intake system when it scoops up the pixels with the gear with the rubber teeth at the end,” said Juan, a High School senior on the team.
Although the team runs into inevitable challenges, Juan says “in the end, usually it works out.”
Several of the team members are seniors, meaning they will graduate from the ‘LibraryBots’ team at the end of this season.
“The approach this year was a little bit more hands-off, to really allow [the younger members] to get their hands dirty with trying to manage a project on their own,” said Louis, a mentor on the team.
Robotics may seem strict, but members of this team, like 15-year-old Tyler, “just have fun and learn new things.”
