This year, robotics teams from around the world to compete in a World Competition in Saint Louis, Missouri. The Titanium Tigers will be joining them after their performance in the state level of competition. At worlds, the robot is required to meet some standards in order to score well.

“There are a couple things the robot has to do,” Robotics adviser Andy Cocagne said. “The main thing is to move gears from a loading station to a fictional ship that flies. We also have to move pieces from one part of the field to another.”

This years assignment is that the team’s robot will participate in a long distance airship race in which they can collect fuel to build steam pressure. World competitions have higher rivalry than states, being that they have hosts from everywhere, rather than just district-wise.

“World competitions host [teams] around the entire world where state competitions are just through the district,” junior Sam Lorenz said. “To prepare for the competitions there is a six week build season. During this period we developed and built the robot. We set up squads of programming, electrical and mechanical to work together to create the bot.”

To develop their robot, members spend afternoons after school creating their robot in the weeks leading up to their first competition. This amount of time is called the build season.

“We did better than we thought we would of at States for sure,” Cocagne said. “We were with a really good group of robots, it really depends on who you are grouped with. We are making improvements to get better. This year we’ve learned to understand which parts of the game get you the most points and which strategies will help you win.”

After two competitions these improvements helped the team become State Finalists, ranking a placement of 16 with a record of 12-9-0 at states on April 15. The Titanium Tigers robotics team leaves for Worlds on April 26-29.