This past Friday, Pearl River County Robotics Team CHAOS 1421 held an open house. The 10 student members of CHAOS demonstrated their Frog0Bot robot and STEM education.

Pearl River County Robotics was formed in 2004 quickly taking on the name Team CHAOS, (Commitment to Helping Advance the Outreach of Stem). The county team consists of high school-aged students from multiple high schools in the Pearl River County area, including Picayune High School, Pearl River Central, Poplarville, and home schools.

Pearl River County Robotics is an after-school, hands-on program that pairs high school students in grades 9-12 with mentors in STEM-related careers, by receiving real-time and applicable skills. It is Team CHAOS’s goal to educate students, by giving them experiences that can lead to STEM-related college and career opportunities. Students participate in programming, mechanical engineering, construction, electrical work, carpentry, bookkeeping, video editing, and oral presentations.

 

During their open house, attendees got to experience several activities related to a STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program. For example, making a paper airplane, or shooting a cotton ball out of a pool noodle with a cut-off piece of balloon and tape.

Members and mentors of Team CHAOS have actively participated in many community affairs, including MLK Day of Service, participating in local school Fall Festivals, being guest speakers at the summer reading program at the local library, and have hosted summer science camps for fourth through sixth-grade students. This year the team helped start a new FLL team at a local private school and plans to assist with new teams in the future.

The mission of Team Chaos is “The keys to knowledge and inspiration lie within the Chaos of ourselves.” Not only does Team CHAOS strive to build a successful robot, but also to build a successful person. Students are empowered by professional mentors in engineering, computer programming, business and finance, and carpentry. Students often find their minds to be chaotic, but with this experience, they discover, choose, and develop gifts and talents in various areas of STEM education.

Attendees also got to experience the Frog-Bot made by Team CHAOS. Frog-Bot weighs nearly 90 pounds, and is controlled by two drives. One controls the arms (picks up and places objects in designated spots) and another controls the wheels (drives). Frog-bot took 6 weeks to build.

 

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The program earns sponsorships from Stennis NASA, Mississippi Power, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Shell gas station, Picayune EYE Clinic, Keesler Federal, PMHS, and more.

Team CHAOS will be at the FRC Bayou Regional this week, March 30- April 1 where they will compete against 44 other teams using their robotics to complete various tasks for points. Here is a list of all the awards CHOAS has won;

• 2022, Finalist Tallahassee Regional Tallahassee Innovation Design Award Winner
• 2011 Smoky Mt. Regional Xerox Creativity Award
• 2020 Innovation and Control Award Arkansas Regional
• 2019 Winners of Bayou Regional Creativity Award Rocket City Regional
• 2018 Winners of Bayou Regional FIRST Championship Carver Division Semi-Finalist
• 2015 Washington D.C. Regional Imagery Award
• 2014 Bayou Regional Team Spirit Award
• 2013 Razorback Regional Winners.Razorback Regional-Xerox Creativity Award Bayou Regional Finalist
• 2012 Bayou Regional Finalist Bayou Regional-Xerox Creativity Award Dallas West Judges Award
• 2010 FIRST Championship Curie Division Finalist Bayou Regional Winner Bayou Regional Team Spirit Award Bayou Regional Safety Recognition Award
• 2009 Lone Star Regional Winner Bayou Regional Finalist
• 2008 Bayou Regional Xerox Creativity Award
• 2007 Bayou Regional Motorola Quality Award
• 2006 Lone Star Regional Winner
• 2004 Lone Star Highest Rookie Seed