Owensboro robotics team competes in world championships

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A Kentucky robotics team had the opportunity to showcase its engineering expertise on the world stage. 

The robot, which transports itself on wheels via remote control, is not a typical machine one would see on the shelves of a toy store. 

William Wilson, senior at the Owensboro Innovation Campus, built the machine. He said he probably spent about 150 hours building it and made sure everything was squared so it could properly move. 

“If things aren’t squared, then stuff doesn’t move right; it’ll start breaking,” he said. “You’ll have a lot of friction you don’t need, and it’ll burn out.”

Wilson and his team of engineers put the well-built contraption to the test, competing in tournaments where it essentially plays robotic soccer. Senior Ben Austin is the robot’s driver.

“It’s somewhat simple: you just want to get as many balls into your team’s goal as you can,” Austin said. 

The robot performed so well, the team landed a spot in the world championships in Dallas last month.

Stephanie Gray, head coach of the Owensboro Innovative Academy robotics team, said only about 10% of teams from VEX Robotics make it to the world championships. She added Kentucky had more than 60 teams and only seven made it to the world championships. 

More than 800 teams across the world showed up. The competition is set up in 10 divisions, with about 80 teams in each division. Owensboro’s division had 82 teams.

This is the fifth straight year the team has made it to the championships, placing 46th of 82 teams within its division.