Page 18 - South Mississippi Living - June, 2019

COASTNOTES
Gulfport High Robotics Team
Gulfport High School’s Robotics Team, Team Fusion 364, made it to the world championship after placing first at the Rocket City Regionals. The win against 55 teams guaranteed them a spot at worlds. In preparation for for the world championship, held in Houston, the team returned home with their robot to practice for their battle against 450 of the best robotics teams in the world.
Goes to Worlds
story and photos by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster
Each year, FIRST (For Inspiration
& Recognition of Science & Technology) announces the objective to teams, who then have only six weeks from the release to build their robot. This year’s objective, Deep Space, is a game where the robots have to move game pieces called hatches into place along the sides
of the space ship targets, which will then hold balls known as cargo in place. Teams earn points based on
a variety of functions, including leaving their habitat, attaching hatch panels and storing cargo.
Based on the game explanation, teams must design their robot to
be able to complete each task. It all starts with getting to understand the game, and for that, Team Fusion 364 built a full size replica of the game space. The most important features of the robot are based on forward motion and the ability to pick up both hatches and cargo – two objects
of different sizes and shapes. After testing out a few (more like 20) different iterations, Team Fusion perfected the bot’s claws.
While their robot is well designed, Lead Programmer Keanu Clark says that its their teamwork that has made them so successful. “As
a team we are very efficient,” he said. “We have meetings before and after our designated robotics time, and that accountability helps us to accomplish as much as we can in a short amount of time.”
The team is made up of about 24 students, and each one has a role to play. From drivers and programmers to operators and builders, they
work together to design, fabricate and construct what they hope will be a winning robot. While Team Fusion 364 did not place in the world championship, they had an incredibly successful season and look forward to next year.
For updates on Team Fusion, visit
www.fusion364.com.
18 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • June 2019
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