Robotics team competes at international competition
Students design, build miniature racecars for Formula 1 contest
Team members present their F1 plan and student-built saloon to future sponsors. The Lone Star Racing team was the only student group from Texas who competed at the latest race.
The Akins T-STEM robotics students have made it to the World Final international stage of F1 in Schools racing.
Juniors Erwin Neira, Hannah Holder, and sophomore James Garcia were selected to represent the Akins robotic team in the F1 In Schools international contest at Circuit of the Americas.
The team has taken part in the competition throughout the year racing in district, region, and national competitions. The team has made a huge accomplishment for themselves, working hard on their car and presentation skills, winning awards such as the Texas Wild Card, Best Pit Display, and Fastest Car.
“I felt pride on my team making it past nationals. For out first year I thought we did pretty good,” Neira said.
The original Akins Talon Racing team merged with the Grandbury, Texas based team Axium, to form Lone Star Racing. The merger happened after the Akins team placed third at the national competition last school year.
“The team has done very well working with counterparts of Grandury ISD, collaborating to have the best display they can and fastest car they can come up with,” assistant principal of T-STEM Juan Gonzalez said.
The team has spent $35,000 on preparation for this competition, along with long nights behind saws and hammers in the workshop.
“We had to put in a lot of work in this competition spending long nights in the workshop not going home until 2 a.m.,” Neira said.
The competition took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel from Nov. 8-13. It consisted of 38 teams, in a highly competitive competition, working to present their best work in front of a judging panel. The team made a miniature Formula 1 car made out of balsa wood with a carbon dioxide cartridge used to propel them forward. Each team is judged on the race as well as a verbal presentation, and a pit display of the car with the engineering used to build it.
“I believe we have a good shot at winning best pit display and creativity,” Chloe Scroggins from Grandbury said.
F1 in Schools provides a fun experience for students to develop an informed view about careers in engineering, mathematics, science, marketing and technology.
“I believe it is going to help me in the long run with recommendations, skills, and experience to go to college and get to where I want to be in the future,” Neira said.
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