SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - With just a kit of parts, a group of high school students from across the country must prepare their battle bots for an action-packed competition. Now, one South Florida group is ready to show its skills on a worldwide stage.
While for most high school students the dismissal bell means time to relax and head home, for students on the award-winning robotics team at Miami Coral Park Senior High School, it means game time.
“It’s a lot of time and a lot of effort, but it pays off,” said student Liev Dorfman, a junior.
The teens are members of this team and are currently gearing up for the biggest competition of the year.
“We go every day after school from 2:30 p.m. to about 9:30 p.m. Then we come in on Saturdays, Sundays, and even holidays,” said Coral Park Senior High School Engineering Magnet Teacher Charlie Delahoz.
Delahoz said his team has moved forward to the world championship after winning regionals.
“We were able to win the South Florida Regional here at [the University of Miami] last weekend and move on to the world championship,” said Delahoz.
That four-day event, titled the “First Championship,” is set to get underway in Houston, Texas.
Eighteen students are headed to the Lone Star State to go head-to-head with 600 teams from across the globe.
“I’m very excited, yeah. Nervous but excited,” said a student.
At the center of it all: a robot they built to collect yellow balls and shoot them across a field.
Student Tyler Gottlieb, a senior, explained to 7News how it works.
“We start with the balls here. The balls go through the intake mechanism from the floor. We are trying to score, very simply, more balls than the other team.”
Students said this creation is something they’ve spent all year perfecting. Each piece was built from scratch in the classroom.
“These are 3D printed, these are manufactured. This tube was a solid tube; we cut it out to make it lighter, and you can see the gears down here. All this is 3D-printed,” said Delahoz.
After months of building, testing, and refining, the team says their work is truly a labor of love.
“It all becomes worth it because seeing where we started at the beginning of the season and seeing where we are at right now. All of the work that me and the rest of the team has put in has gotten us to the point where we are right now,” said Dorfman.
The students said even though winning the championship is their ultimate dream, their mission goes beyond trophies. They hope their hard work will inspire the next generation of creators and innovators in South Florida for years to come.
“And being able to showcase that and inspire other kids to do the same is a motivation for me,” said Cassandra Mollinedo, Robotics Club Outreach Coordinator.
The team departs for Houston on Wednesday, with competition beginning the very next day—ready to represent South Florida on a global stage.
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