Central's robot masters need help to get to Worlds

The Central High School RoboLancers are accustomed to challenges. After building a sophisticated robot from scratch in six weeks, they recently won the highest honor their organization offers and a pass to its world championships.

But therein lies another hurdle.

The team of scrappy Philadelphia teenagers has two weeks to raise a daunting sum to make it to St. Louis and the FIRST Robotics World Championship: $35,000.

For Stanley Umeweni, a senior who has "been in love with robotics since I got to Central," the competition has a larger meaning than just a chance to vie for a title.

"Kids in Philly think they're going to go to competitions and get stomped on, but we want people to know that they can go to competitions and win," Umeweni said.

Robotics is important at Central. It's the largest extracurricular activity at the prestigious magnet school, with more than 100 students on the team, and more than that, it's cool.

"Everyone knows about the robotics team," said member Evan Aretz, a junior.

As if on cue, assistant principal Jackie Betof walked past the robotics room, where on Tuesday, RoboLancers head coach Michael Johnson and a few students were pulling out their masterpiece to show a visitor.

"Isn't it cute?" Betof said of the 120-pound robot, a foldable, battery-powered, plastic tub stacker.

The team's triumph is still fresh in students' and staffers' minds. As Johnson and a handful of students walked through the hallways, a school police officer stopped them.

"Congratulations," she said, smiling widely.

In a district that has cut back dramatically on extracurricular activities, the RoboLancers have been key ambassadors for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. They design and plan robotics events for students at other schools, and lend other teams technical help for their projects.

Two days before they are scheduled to head to St. Louis, for example, the team is planning the Philadelphia Robotics Expo, a major outreach event.

The goal, said Umeweni, who is headed to the University of Pittsburgh as a mechanical engineering major, is to infuse other students with the kind of passion they have.

"We want to get kids excited, so they know what engineering is, what robotics is," he said.

The team has already had to raise $30,000 to fund its annual budget - it receives no financial support from the district - so the unexpected additional expense is particularly tough. It has created an online fund-raising site and through Tuesday night had raised a little under $6,000 of the needed $35,000, which would cover registration, buses, hotels, and related expenses for 40 people.

Umeweni and Maria Shayegan, another RoboLancers senior, were part of the 2013 team that went to worlds, and they like their chances to go back again. They're used to going up against well-funded suburban teams, and they like being the underdogs, they said.

"Some teams have really good [computer-assisted design] capabilities and machining sponsors," Umeweni said. "Others have maybe a drill and a hacksaw. But we get it done."