The MSMS Robotics team qualified for state in their latest competition.

The team woke up bright and early Saturday, Jan. 27 en route to Senatobia to compete in the second of six qualifiers.

In their first qualifier, the team placed 10th out of 15 teams because of faulty wiring in their old robot. There was a lot of work that went into the new robot, which was built in only a week’s time. Team members worked from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. the nights leading up to competition to craft the robot.

Junior Devin Chen commented on the work that went into building the robot.

“A good point to emphasize is that in the matter of one week, we were able to complete a robot. We are restricted in how much time we can put into the robot whereas other teams have all the time in the world,” Chen said.

At the qualifier, the team competed in six preliminary matches and was able to advance to the semifinals because of their ranking. In the semifinal round, the team paired up with the Pirate Cats from Vicksburg to clinch the championship. The final score for the tournament was 147-40.

Team member Daniel Smothers talked about the various things the robot had to be able to do.

“So for us to qualify for state, we had to build a robot that could do a lot. It had to have an autonomous part in which the bot controlled itself for a while, then a driver control portion. The bot had to be able to pick up six-inch cubed boxes and place them inside of a dedicated safe zone,” Smothers said.

Below is a video that further explains the competition the team competed in: Relic Recovery.

Team captain Jim Zhang spoke on the team’s effort in qualifying for state.

“The competition was a payoff of all of the long hours that everyone’s been putting in. I’m impressed by how hard everyone has been working, and their passion and dedication to the team thoroughly humbles me. It’s been a great journey, and I’m looking forward to state,” Zhang said.

Junior member Sophia Pepper commented on the team’s success at the qualifier.

“Winning the Senatobia qualifier was amazing, especially since it means we will continue on to compete at the state championships at Ole Miss. Moving on, we’ll really have to put in a lot of work–both on the robot mechanically as well as with driving and programming–to have a chance at attending super regionals in Georgia. Without our wonderful team dynamics and the diversity of experiences we hold, I doubt we’d have made it this far but because of them I feel sure we’ll continue to be successful.”

The team will compete at the state competition in Oxford on Feb. 17.