This Thursday at the Chaifetz Arena on the SLU campus, the robotics team for our district will be competing against 40 other

schools.

The teams will begin the practice rounds to get a feel for how it’s going to go. Friday is the starting of the qualifications and Saturday is regional qualifications. If the team doesn’t make it to regionals, they’re done for the season.

“It’s friendly competition, but it’s also a little crazy,” Sophomore Chad Hayse said.

This year, the teams will be using their robot to shoot gym sized workout balls made of a tougher material into a giant hoop. Who ever has the most points at the end of the session wins.The winning team at regionals gets to carry on to World, which is being held at the Edward Jones Dome.

“It’s fun there’s a lot of stuff that goes on there’s lots of teams, and it’s just exciting and fast-paced,” programmer Matt Seigler said.

The robotics team has been meeting on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays between January through February to build their 120 pound robot. 3 different components go into building the robot; programming, building, and electric.

“You write stuff down in the computer and then you send it off to the robot and it will actually do what you want it to do,” Segiler said. “It’s interesting.”