Ian Nelson checks on the robot created by a team of students at Lawrence High School during a practice exercise after class Monday at the Lawrence Virtual School, 2145 La. Nelson, a freshman at Kansas University, is a former LHS student who is a member of the robotics team.

It stands 12 feet tall and weighs more than 100 pounds. Pose it just the right way, and the robot looks like the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex that is ready for battle.

The machine is the brainchild of the Lawrence High School robotics team.

For six weeks, the high school students have gathered after school and on weekends. They’ve dreamed and schemed and riveted more than they care to recall as the robot took shape.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” said Garrett Gabel, a sophomore on the team. “You’ve got to deal with a lot of people for six weeks and a lot of stress.”

The team will compete March 6-8 in the Greater Kansas City Regional contest of the FIRST Robotics Competition in Hale Arena of The American Royal Complex.

The team spent Monday evening testing their creation in the gymnasium of the Lawrence Virtual School.

They directed the robot through a course similar to the one it will face in competition. The battery-powered robot buzzed around the carpet on its six wheels, at times seizing a giant ball that weighed 7.5 pounds and measured four feet in diameter.

The team members – many envisioning futures in science and engineering – looked on.

“It definitely is a good idea, and it’s well-implemented in this case,” said Charles Frager, a sophomore. “It has a few flaws, but those are definitely minor ones.”

Frager listed the robot’s strengths.

“It can move the ball up and down on three axes,” he said. “It has both offensive and defensive capabilities. It can push the other team’s ball completely out of the way if necessary – even while we’re holding our own ball.”

In competition, the robot will have to pick up the ball and carry it. It will be directed by team members using remote control.

After weeks of work, the team is eager to compete. The regional competition offers numerous awards, including recognition for quality, inspiration and innovation. Winners advance to a national championship. And scholarship dollars are also part of the pie.

“The crowd is very huge,” said Nels Hotvedt, a senior who has been to competition before. “It’s up to 500 people in that stadium, and the people are like, ‘Go, go, go.’ It’s that intense. It’s about the intensity of a football game.”