The FWCD robotics club participated in the annual Cowtown B.E.S.T. robotics competition held at Nolan Catholic High School Saturday, October 31. The Falcons’ squad was one of 22 total teams to enter a robot in the competition; they were also one of only three new teams this year. The competition itself involved a 6 week period allotted to the teams in which they were required to build a functioning robot that could navigate a mine shaft simulation, collecting various minerals to bring back to the surface. The robots were judged based on how many minerals they could collect in three minutes, with each different type of mineral representing a different point value.

The FWCD team finished in 12^th place overall, an unprecedentedly high placement for a new team, and also received the best new team award. The FWCD side also achieved this despite deciding to completely remodel their robot over the final week of the original 6-week period.

Robotics Club is not currently planning on participating in any other contests this school year, but they are considering competing again in the spring.

The club joins the growing list of FWCD clubs that are extremely relevant to today’s society and technological growth.

“I joined robotics to gain exposure in a field that is playing an increasingly significant role in our daily lives,” Brendan O’Connell ’18 said.

Due to the rising demand in technology and robots in society today, the club not only provides students with an entertaining way to creatively solve problems with robots, it also gives them critical hands-on experience in a technological field that they can’t receive from a textbook. According to club sponsor and Upper School science teacher Shaen McKnight, the physical experience of creating the robot is extremely important.

“Young people today don’t get a chance to build things that often, and it’s fun. I hope that most of them want to learn and do more,” McKnight said.