The Helena Robotics Team finished in the top 1 percent of the 2,500 robotics teams that competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championships held in a domed stadium in St. Louis.

Six young Helenans represented the 40 members of the Helena Robotics Club at the world match, which was attended by 12,000 students from 32 different countries. The Helena squad finished 24th out of 2,500 teams over the three-day event.

The Helena team, otherwise known as the “A-Team,” built a robot and adorned it with gold chains and a mohawk to resemble TV’s Mr. T. Team members include Josh Steiner, Airel Lamb, Kyle Whitehead, Mykaela Edwards, Anna Lund and Quinn Kurokawa.

“It’s really a journey,” said coach John Miller. “It’s a 10-month project to get to worlds.”

Kurokawa, a Capital High School senior, has been with the team for the past four years. He said the biggest obstacle this year has been finding the time to collaborate with the entire team.

“We don’t just do robotics,” said Kurokawa, who is also a member of the Bruin track team.

Another struggle, according to Kurokawa, is the adjustment from the classroom to the obstacle course in the midst of the meet. He said building, running and repairing the robot at school are ideal circumstances.

“We get to the meets and other variables come in, and the pressure hits us differently because we’re so excited to be there,” he said.

There are four competitive divisions at the event, divided up by age and robot size. Helena’s team competed in the First Tech Challenge (FTC) competition after they earned a spot in the state competition at Montana State University in February. This is the second year in a row a Helena team has qualified for the world competition.

In FTC, teams are paired up and compete in two types of matches: autonomous, where the robot is programmed and moves on its own; and tele-operated, where the drivers control the actions of the robot with a remote.

Coach Theresa Vedovatti said this year’s robot operated smoothly because the team spent so much time refining it after the state competition.

One of the most profound parts of the experience, according to Vedovatti, is how the competitors treated each other.

“There’s 12,000 kids there respecting and caring about each other,” she said. “Nobody is different, and everyone is part of the community.”

Miller said the team’s robot performed superbly.

“Any loss of points we had was because of our alliance’s robot,” he said. “We could have easily ended up on top if the cards would have fallen differently.”

Lamb, a CHS senior, said he’s OK with not winning, even though at one point during the competition Helena was ranked No. 1.

“It was more than just winning,” he said. “It was inspirational too.”

There were big-name speakers throughout the three-day event including basketball superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, and inventor Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).

Steiner is the youngest on the team. He’s an eighth-grader at C.R. Anderson and says he’d love it if Helena could qualify for worlds until he graduates. For now, he’s looking forward to next year.

“I have a whole bunch of ideas I’m going to apply next year,” he said.

The Helena Robotics Club is always looking for new members and students can be in middle or high school from any school in town.

Kurokawa says a person who excels at robotics is a person who can be open-minded.

Lamb says it takes dedication and a willingness to be a team player. A former love of Legos doesn’t hurt, either.

Reporter Alana Listoe: 447-4081, alana.listoe@helenair.com

or Twitter.com/IR_AlanaListoe

TOKYO (AP) — Look, no hands. Scooting about in a unicycle is no sweat with Honda‘s new robotics technology.

Swaying your body from side to side is all you need to do to turn, rotate full circle and zip around on the Uni-Cub, which looks a bit like a floating car seat.

Reporters got a test ride on the machine Tuesday. It takes some getting used to but responds smoothly and quietly.

Honda Motor Co. said Uni-Cub is not dangerous to pedestrians even if it crashes. But it can only be used on flat surfaces.

It will be on display at a Tokyo science museum and go through some tests for feedback. There are no plans yet for a commercial product. Honda declined comment on pricing or timing.

TOKYO (AP) — Look, no hands. Scooting about on what looks like a floating car seat is no sweat for anyone with Honda‘s new hands-free robotics technology.

Swaying your body from side to side is all you need to do to turn, rotate full circle and zip around on the Uni-Cub. The Uni-Cub has one main wheel, while a tiny wheel at the back helps for circular moves.

Reporters got a test ride on the machine Tuesday. It takes some getting used to but responds smoothly and quietly.

Lean forward to go straight, to the left to go left. If all fails to stop, just put your foot down.

Uni-Cub will be on display at a Tokyo science museum. There are no plans yet for a commercial product.