Last January, the Forsyth County Alliance Robotics team found themselves staring at a box of junk – sprockets, wires, motors, gears, processors and more. From this pile, they were to design and build a robot in six weeks that could play basketball.

The task was part of the FIRST – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – worldwide annual robotics competition. For this rookie robotics team, the task went well beyond building a robot.

The competition teaches real world engineering and technology concepts while encouraging teamwork, community outreach, partnerships with businesses and professional and cooperative behavior.

“The winner of the competition is not the team that builds the best robot,” said Rick Folea, engineering mentor for Forsyth Alliance. “It is the team that demonstrates gracious professionalism and makes the most impact in their community.”

Comprised of students from three area high schools in Forsyth County, the team not only built a working robot, but learned aspects of how to run a small business. Everything from writing a business plan, creating the product, obtaining capital, balancing a budget, marketing the product and time management were included in the competition process.

“The challenges of the competition were similar to those of real world engineering,” said Rick. “Our team had limited time, money and materials.”

Those challenges however, did not hinder the team. In fact, the team won several awards for their creation – Otto. At the regional competition the team won the Rookie All-Star Award and the Imagery Award; and, at the national competition in Atlanta this past April, the team once again won the Imagery Award, which no rookie team had ever accomplished before.

“Our team put a lot of effort into creating a brand and image for their robot,” said Rick. “We created a unique and memorable product with everything from our robot’s logo to our team uniforms, booth and marketing materials.”

After the competition, Rick decided the team needed to see how robots perform in the real world. Robots are widely used in manufacturing processes, such as building a car. To see robots in a manufacturing setting, Rick arranged a tour of the Center for Innovation for Manufacturing Excellence (CIME) located on the campus of Lanier Technical College in Gainesville. As part of their community outreach, Forsyth invited the rookie Lumpkin County robotics team to tour CIME with them.

“CIME serves as the epicenter for the latest in manufacturing technology in Georgia,” said Judy Parks, Director of the CIME. “The center’s state-of-the-art facilities and technologies provide a wonderful opportunity to introduce students of all ages to advanced manufacturing concepts including robotics and much more.”

During the tour, sparks flew as robots demonstrated welding techniques in CIME’s robotic welding lab. “It was good for the teams to see other robots in action,” said Rick.

“This tour gave the teams a chance to observe real world robots working. For example, our welding robots are the same as those used on the factory floor at Kubota and other companies,” said Judy.

CIME looks forward to partnering with the Forsyth County Alliance team and other robotics teams in the near future. “We have the same goals – to educate students about advanced manufacturing and robotics,” said Judy.