By John Brasier Record Staff Writer Wright City freshman Marissa Davenport didn’t want to play ball. So she took the advice of a friend and joined the high school’s robotics team. “It’s a lot …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
Attention subscribers
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous wesbite, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue
Need an account?
Print and web subscribers
If you're a print and web subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one.
Online-only subscribers
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
State meet awaits area robotic team
Posted
By John BrasierRecord Staff WriterWright City freshman Marissa Davenport didn’t want to play ball. So she took the advice of a friend and joined the high school’s robotics team.“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s something different than sports, and you can get a lot of scholarships to help with your college education.”Ironically, on Saturday, the fate of Davenport and her teammates will depend on how well their creation can perform tasks with plastic balls.The Wright City robotics team is competing at the regional FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Championship robotics meet at Missouri University of Science & Technology in Rolla.In FTC competition, high school teams of up to 10 members build, design and program robots.In Saturday’s competition, titled “Cascade Effect,” teams from Missouri and western Illinois will earn points when their robots collect various sized balls into rolling goals and then move the goals into scoring areas.After struggling with a twitching motor during the fall, the Wright City team advanced to the regional meet by making the finals in a 36-team qualifying event on Jan. 10.“We weren’t expecting to qualify,” said Davenport.Team members have spent the last two months installing a new motor and making other necessary tweaks.The team, which usually meets for 2 1/2 hours after school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, is meeting every day this week to make final preparations.Members of the team include seniors Kody Huse and Alonso Villanueva; juniors Tyler Eads, Jacob Durand, Michael Ogburn; sophomore Lucas Payette; and freshmen Chloe Hall, Zoe Pezold, Ryan Pritchard and Davenport.Billy Garrett, who teaches chemistry and physics at the school, is in his first year as the team’s coach.Garrett said volunteers Bob Soderholm and Mike Gambill, retired Boeing employees who live in Innsbrook, have served as valuable mentors.“We’ve got the main things out of the way,” Garrett said last week. “We’re just fine-tuning a few things. On the day of the competition, it depends on how well we all work together.”The Wright City team members are optimistic about their chances. Davenport said the robot has performed the required tasks during practices.“I think we have a decent chance,” she said. “We’ve been making modifications. We’re trying to fix some of the wiring we had problems with the last time.”Wright City finished second in the state meet in 2013.
Members of the Wright City High School robotics team demonstrate how their robot works during the Wright City Chamber of Commerce meeting Feb. 24. The team will be competed at state this weekend. Pictured, from left, are Michael Ogborn, Tyler Eads and Dakota Huse. Tim Schmidt photo.
