
VEX Robotics teams spend months meticulously planning game strategies, coding for the best autonomous score, and building and refining their robot. It’s all part of the engineering design process.
What if you only had 24 hours to build your best robot, with minimal knowledge of the game being played? On top of that, you’ve only worked with a robotics kit in bits and pieces, and as for coding, the first time you’d touched a computer mouse was a little over a year before.
Such was the case for team 22935A, Galactic Einsteins, who had made the long journey from their hometown in South Africa to brave the cold Massachusetts weather to compete at the WAVE at WPI signature event this December.
Their mentor, Kuda Takawira, described the decision to make the trek like this: “We brought our team to the US to compete in this place so that they can acquire skills which they might take back and try to challenge the world, but ultimately there were no finances” he said.
“About five days before the trip we were able to get money for flights, and I purchased tickets Monday,” Kuda continued. “The team was on the flight Tuesday, and when they arrived here Wednesday, they started building their bot. And today, Thursday, they’re competing.”
And where did this odyssey begin? Coincidentally, Worcester, South Africa. While the town in Massachusetts and its counterpart in South Africa share the same name, they couldn’t be more different in all other aspects. “They’re coming from an informal settlement where there are no working toilets or roads” Kuda said. “They had no access to computing, no access to wifi. They didn’t even know how to use the computer. They were introduced to robotics one year after learning how to use a computer mouse.”
Despite everything, the students were cheery and remained optimistic about the competition and what they could bring back to their hometown. Khuselo, a high school robotics student attending Zwelethemba High School, explained “We are the only team that is doing robotics in our community. We’re the ones that introduced VEX robotics to our peers. And the thing is that the robotics in our community back there in South Africa is usually done by those expensive schools, the private schools. They are not the local schools.”
Liyema, his drive team partner, continued “The other thing is that we are actually a team of 18. So we support each other as a group and do a large amount of work together. Some are doing this, others are doing that. So we are very supportive of each other and the other teams” Liyema said. “If maybe another team is lacking some tools to use, we share them. But it’s all about professionalism, helping those who are looking, and looking out for those who are with you.”
Tarek Shiribati, Vice President of International and Developing Programs for the REC Foundation, sees immense value in teams like the Galactic Einsteins pursuing robotics internationally. “These students are learning crucial STEM and workforce skills that they are able to bring back and share with their peers. They are also exposed to other cultures and ideas that are not present in their own country. Experiences like this change lives.”
With the Einsteins back in South Africa after their whirlwind trip, we can only wait in anticipation to see what this team will do now that they have a Signature Event under their belt.
To learn more about the Galactic Einsteins, check out this video produced by our partners at WPI.