ALBANY The Albany High School robotics team and their bot got a festive send-off at the National Grid headquarters in downtown Albany on Wednesday ahead of their trip to Houston.

The Falcons team and their creation, "Rein," are headed to the three-day FIRST Robotics World Championship at the end of May.

National Grid directors congratulated the students and presented the team with a $35,000 check and a cake at Wednesday's event.

After winning the regional competition, the club had less than a month to figure out travel and hotel costs not to mention how to transport a 120-pound robot across the country. Shipping it was too risky given the unpredictability of postal delivery.

Between National Grid, community donations and funds from the school district, the team raised nearly $100,000, more than double their $46,500 fundraising goal, in a week.

High school senior Alison Powell's parents volunteered to drive the team's creation on a pickup truck from Albany to Houston.

"Having it driven down is the best way to ensure that it makes it there in one piece and it's functional for the competition," Powell said.

Jacob Ennis, a National Grid gas field operations supervisor, has mentored the robotics team for the last eight years.

"I thought they would make it," Ennis said. "Albany High is always kind of scrappy when it comes to funding for the team and we always find a way to pull it out."

Rein pulled off some fancy maneuvers for the National Grid staff Wednesday. Its 360-degree swerve drive technology enables Rein to move faster and smoother in any direction in comparison to the tank-style robots the team has built in previous years. LED lights flash red, blue, and green to let the operator know how many balls it is holding.

Rein tossed balls into a trash can. At the upcoming competition, the robot will shoot balls into a net that is 8 feet tall.

During the regionals last month, the students identified some weaknesses in the robot. Then the brakes malfunctioned and the tire treads wore out. But the new-and-improved Rein is ready to compete, they said.

"I have taken it apart and remade it more times than I can count," senior Dorothy Sperry said.

According to Robotics Club president Thor Hammer, coming up with the concept was a team effort.

"We all have a brainstorming day and collectively the entire team comes up with ideas for the robot and then we narrowed down the options," he said.

Albany Superintendent Kaweeda Adams thanked National Grid for the generous contribution and for its ongoing support for the Falcons team.

"Truly the inspiration for everything that we do, you are looking at it right here," Adams said Wednesday. "This is what motivates me every single day. These are the people who motivate me to get up at 4:30 every single morning and last well until midnight ... this is the group that will be our engineers, our mathematicians, our doctors. All of these things that they are learning here within this STEM program is what will help us in the future as a community."

It is the second time the award-wining robotics team has made it to the nationals.The Falcons won the regional contest in 2018 and participated in the national championships in Detroit a destination less cost-prohibitive because it did not require airfare.

Sophia Lucarelli, the club's treasurer, said arranging hotel and airfare and meals for 17 students was an ordeal, but thanks to the community's support, they pulled it off.

"Especially during senior year, you want to go out with a bang ... I'm just really looking forward to going to Houston and I'm so happy," Lucarelli said.

See more here:

Albany High robotics team gets grand send-off for championships - Times Union