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Springdale Team Representing U.S. At Global Robotics Competition

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KFSM) — The Don Tyson School of Innovation robotics team will be representing the United States in the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge happeni...

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KFSM) — The Don Tyson School of Innovation robotics team will be representing the United States in the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge happening in Dubai this October.

Out of 7,000 teams in America, the students from Springdale were chosen.

"We're more than a robotics team," said team member Abby Herrera.

Robotics started at the Don Tyson School of Innovation five years ago. The program the students work in is called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).

"We focus a lot on not only building a competition robot for the season but also to expand into community outreach," Herrera told 5NEWS.

Not only does the Don Tyson team reach out to their local community, but the robotics community around the world. They are excited to come face-to-face with the teams they have mentored.

"We want robotics to transcend the global issues today. We want to ignore all the politics and really be excited about one thing we all love to do, which is building robots," said Herrera.

The Springdale team is hoping to make a significant impact at the global competition.

The team competed in April at this year's championship event in Houston.

"So this has been way different than any challenge we've ever done," said robotics teacher Dru Samuelson.

They were sent a box of parts with no instructions and created a robot to compete for the title of best in the world. Every team competing in the competition received the same pieces to create a robot.

The FIRST Global Robotic Challenge lays out a framework for students to develop their capabilities in science, mathematics, technology and innovation through a competition to develop robots.

“At this global challenge event in October, we aim to provide an opportunity for thousands of students who want to make a positive impact in the world through science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Hosting the FIRST Global Challenge in Dubai reaffirms the importance of this event in the design of robots, the further development of technology skills for young people and further reinforces Dubai’s interest in this futuristic sector,” Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST Global, said.

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