Jackson Area Robotics Team Crowned World Robotics Champions

Written by Margee Stanfield

Photos Contributed by Margee Stanfield and Alton Strupp

With just a minute left on the clock in the minute and forty five second final match of the high school VEX Robotics World Championship, team 2775V’s robot had climbed all the way to the top—literally. Using its arm, the robot inched from tier to tier until it reached the highest platform. Chaos erupted below, as their alliance team battled their opponents, but team 2775V’s robot sat looking down on it all with quiet triumph and nothing left to do but wait for the clock to run out. The crowd was erupting, cheering them on by name. And just like that, they took the title of World Champions.

Back in Jackson, Jackson Area Robotics gathered for their first weekly meeting after team 2775V’s win to celebrate, reflect on the journey, and showcase the robot that took them all the way.

“Do you want to see the robot?”

Samuel McCarver enthusiastically shuffled away and pulled his team’s prized robot out of a large black crate. Not just any robot, but a robot expertly crafted to do extraordinary things necessary for competing in this specific competition such as climb, play in a ring toss type game, and even detect if it has picked up the wrong color ring (such color sensing technology was adaptably added by Samuel during Worlds after growing tired of accidentally scoring for their opponents one too many times). He proudly placed the infamous robot that won them the title of World Champions on the table between me, him, and his teammates, before they recounted the events of their win to me. 

Claire Bernheisel, James Quinteros, and Caden Chan make up the rest of team 2775V. They are a part of Jackson Area Robotics, which initially started years ago at Liberty High School before finding a new home at theCO. 

“We are here to make sure that the STEM students from our community that don't have a home team or school team to be a part of, have the opportunity,” KaBao McCarver, Samuel’s mom and Jackson Area Robotics volunteer, said. 

This was not team 2775V’s first time at the VEX Robotics World Championship, an annual competition hosted in Dallas that brings together the top robotics teams from all across the globe.

“ Each match is two minutes long and you're only guaranteed to play 10 matches,” Bernheisel explained. “So, all these kids are paying thousands of dollars and putting hundreds of hours into their robots and their designs to come play for 20 minutes.”

Teams from across the world gamble it all for a chance to play in the dome, hoping it will pay off.

“It’s paid off for us a little,” Samuel joked.

It is a long road to get to Worlds with a robot capable of going all the way. This past year the team has had various challenges. One prevalent obstacle being the dispersed nature of the team members, who are scattered across four different counties of the Jackson area. It can be a struggle to get the team together, which is why having a weekly meeting spot at theCO has been a haven for them. 

”Having a centralized location where we know we can get parts from is really, really convenient,” Samuel said. 

 Parts are not always easy to come by and can be expensive. Not only do they have access to parts at theCO, they also have the capability to make parts from scratch.

“All this white plastic you see on the robot here is laser cut with the tools here at theCO,” Samuel said, pointing out the pieces on the robot. “They really, really help with getting ideas from my head onto the robot.”

As they overcame obstacles, a distant goal driven by bad memories prevailed. Not only was this not their first time at the dome, but their third year making it all the way to finals. 

 ”The last two years they were in the dome, their alliance partner committed a violation that disqualified them from the tournament. And so it was two years of incredible disappointment,” KaBao explained. “I mean, when you're beat, you're just beat. But when, your partner makes a mistake that disqualifies you, it's a different kind of crushing.”

So they were not just returning back to simply compete another year. This time around was laced with a purpose to prove something. And they did. 

“It feels good to come back and prove that, yeah, we could have done it in the past,” Samuel said.

Though the referees and judges may not have always known it, the crowd certainly did, cheering them on every step of the way. 

“There are teams that come to Worlds that don't speak English, but they know Jackson Area Robotics, they know 2775V, and they know Sammy,” Kaboa said.

A world famous robotics team that has fans from all over is right here in Jackson, at theCO.

“ So what this provides to the community is it is an exceptionally accessible and high performing club that you can get into and you can get guidance from,” Samuel said.

“They love to share their ideas. Did you ever see a fisherman tell you where he got in that big fish last week? He'll die before he tells me what kind of hook he uses,” Rhodes Barnett, member at theCO and Jackson Area Robotic’s biggest supporter said. “But there's something about the culture of the kids who love to share ideas. So we encourage people to show up.”

Jackson Area Robotics meets at 5 p.m. on Thursdays in theCO’s event space and is open to all middle school and high school students who are interested in learning about robotics.

“We've been able to accomplish a lot with Jackson Area Robotics, and so, to me, it's just evidence that these kids exist in our community—and we have to find them and nurture them and make sure that they have the opportunity to do this kind of thing,” KaBoa said.