Local Robotics Team Competing in “World Championship”

The Yamhill County-based youth robotics program, FRC Team #4043, also known as “NerdHerd,” is heading to Houston, Texas, this week to compete in the FIRST® Robotics Competition World Championship after achieving high marks in local and regional competitions throughout the season. 

“It feels incredible,” said NerdHerd mentor Darrin McIntyre. “The team set Districts as our goal from the beginning of the season. It’s gratifying to see the hard work the students have put in not only leading us to Districts but also to the World Championships.”

The FIRST® Robotics Competition, founded in 1989, aims to inspire and prepare young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs, according to the nonprofit’s website.

“Under strict rules, limited time, and resources, teams of students are challenged to raise funds, design a team ‘brand,’ hone teamwork skills, and build and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors,” the website states.

“Those of us who had students involved and have graduated believe that what FIRST® does for these students is open the door to their schooling and careers,” McIntyre said. “My daughter was the electrical lead on the team and has since pursued a career in the electrical field. Jessica, the other lead mentor, got involved when her son joined, and he has pursued a career in software engineering.”

Participating teams build a robot programmed to perform human-assisted challenges such as picking up loops and throwing them into a goal. Teams collaborate with “alliances,” and two alliances compete in a match. It is a contact sport, said McIntyre, but damaging another robot can result in serious penalties, including disqualification. The matches involve fully automated robotics, human assist, and human-only activities.

This year’s match concept is music-themed, where the robots pick up “notes” to play into three different elements (speakers), and then robots pull themselves up on a chain (to go on “stage”), and team members can toss rings onto the stage to earn extra points. Watch a demonstration video on the FIRST® Robotics Competition YouTube page.

“Teamwork is key to our success this year,” McIntyre said. “The students are pushing each other to improve using the lessons we’ve learned over the past few seasons.”

FRC Team #4043, coached by Bryan Lee, was established in 2011 at McMinnville High School’s Engineering and Aerospace Sciences Academy (EASA) and quickly gained prominence, winning the Rookie All-Star Award at the Las Vegas Regional Competition. That inaugural team qualified for the world championships in St. Louis, Missouri, that year. In 2017, the team became open to all of Yamhill County.

In 2019, the team participated in its most recent World Championship, reaching the finals.

And their chances this year? McIntyre said they’re feeling pretty good.

“The students have built a solid and robust robot that earned us both a quality and autonomous award in our regular season events,” he said. “Consistency is what gets you noticed on the world stage, and we have been very consistent all season long.”

You can stream the 2024 FIRST® Robotics Competition Championship Matches at the organization’s website. 

The team started a GoFundMe campaign to help alleviate transportation costs to bring the team to Houston.

For more information about FRC Team #4043, visit their website or stay updated on their Facebook page.

Newsberg initially listed Darrin McIntyre as a coach, when he is a mentor on the program. Coach Bryan Lee is the coach for FRC Team #4043. Newsberg regrets the error.