Wave Robotics makes history at World Championship

• Wave Robotics of Oshkosh claimed the title of FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship Finalist.
• Oshkosh Mayor Steve Cummings presented Wave Robotics with a proclamation.

ST. LOUIS – The Wave Robotics varsity program in Oshkosh made history when it took second place Saturday at the FIRST Robotics World Championship competition at the Edward Jones Dome.

Team 2826, comprising 36 students in grades 9-12 at Oshkosh North and West, Lourdes and Omro high schools, was one of 600 that competed for the World Champion title. After taking second in both the qualifying and divisional rounds, the Oshkosh students formed an alliance with three other teams for the finals and finished second overall.

Each team had been tasked with creating a robot as large as 120 pounds and 5 feet tall within six weeks. During the competition, the robots had to quickly stack FedEx totes on top of a platform and then place recycling containers on top to earn points.

The team's biggest strength throughout the event was consistency, said Tyler Olds, director of the Wave Robotics program.

"We were able to consistently put up points every single round, and we didn't falter," he said.

Oshkosh West High School senior Chris Caruana drove the robot, named Depthcharge, while another student controlled its functions, such as stacking the totes. Caruana said the team was expecting to do well, but was surprised at just how far it advanced.

"To do as well as we did was completely unexpected," he said, adding he and a few of his teammates each put in at least 60 hours of practice a week leading up to the event. "It just took the entire team by storm."

After their history-making run at the championship, he's itching for the next competition in July at the Indiana Robotics Invitational All-Star.

"I'm extremely excited," he said. "I can't wait to see what improvements we can think of and how insane the robot is going to be."

FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is a program to inspire youth to be leaders in science and technology through mentor-based programs that build skills, innovation, self-confidence, communication and leadership, according to its website. Wave Robotics is a FIRST team.

Not only was it the furthest any Wisconsin FIRST robotics team has gone in the World Championship — and just the second time a Wisconsin team made it past the divisional rounds — but it was also the only time a Wisconsin team has won the Excellence in Engineering Award, Olds said.

The award recognizes a team able to demonstrate specific machine features of its robot that are the most advantageous to winning. For Wave Robotics, that was Depthcharge's ability to drive itself and rack up the most points during the autonomous mode, Olds said.

The team's autonomous robot is the highest-scoring one in the world and on average scores 27 out of 28 points. The average second-place scores are about 19, Caruana said.

Melissa Daniels, co-student leader, said people were impressed with Depthcharge everywhere the team went at the competition. She said it felt amazing for the team to be recognized.

"It's an honor to be on this type of team," Daniels said, noting the small percentage of robotics teams that advance to the World Championship — the Top 600 out of 2,900 teams in the world took the trip to St. Louis.

"Being one of the first Wisconsin teams to make it so far is a really outstanding feeling," she said.

Olds, the program director, was proud of the students' ability to stay focused amid the pressure and thousands of people. Eight countries were represented at the event.

"I really hope the team got the sense of what things can be," he said. "To be able to be composed and be mature but still celebrate and have fun at the same time, I think that's what makes a complete experience in the program."

Oshkosh Mayor Steve Cummings on Tuesday presented Wave Robotics with a proclamation declaring April 28 as FIRST Wave Robotics World Champions Finalist Day.

Noell Dickmann: (920) 426-6658 or [email protected]; on Twitter: @ONW_Noell

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