Rutherford robotics teams sweep competition with top three wins

Three teams of students form Rutherford County took top honors at the BEST Robotics competition held at David Lipscomb University this weekend.

The competition is known as BEST because it stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology. It’s a national, six-week competition that is held at “hubs” around the country, according to the organization.

SC Robotics — which is a mixture of middle school and high school students from Stewarts Creek middle and high schools — won Most Photogenic Robot, BEST Webpage Design, BEST Exhibit Design and Construction, BEST Team Exhibit and Interview, and first place overall BEST Award.

Smyrna Robotics — a middle school team from Thurman Francis Arts Academy — won BEST Team T-shirt Design, BEST Middle School Team, fourth place in the robot competition, and second place overall BEST Award. (Read more about the Thurman Francis team and how it prepared.)

BOROBOTICS — which is a mixture of middle school and high school students from Central Magnet School and Discovery School but is considered a high school team — won Most Robust Machine, third place in the robot competition and third place overall BEST Award.

Both SC Robotics and Smyrna Robotics, as the top two winners, will proceed to the regional competition scheduled for Auburn University Dec. 1-2.

Blackman Middle School also sent a team to the competition at David Lipscomb. It was the school’s first appearance at the event.

The competition involves students competing in a variety of categories, and teams spends six weeks preparing.