RIVERSIDE – A trailer packed with electronics gear and a robot used in a competition to promote science and technology was stolen from a Riverside church parking lot, leaving the students who bought the equipment ”shocked” and facing the prospect of having to raise funds to buy new gear, a spokesman said today.
Sometime between 3 p.m. Wednesday and 9 this morning, thieves stole a 16- foot utility trailer belonging to RoboKong Team 2493 from a parking lot fronting Gethsemane Lutheran Church in the 800 block of Blaine Street.
According to RoboKong team mentor Rick Sisk, the $6,000 trailer contained around $6,000 worth of tools and electronics hardware, including a five-foot-tall 150-pound robot hand-built by the 18 high school students who comprise the team.
”Everybody’s pretty much in shock that someone would do this,” Sisk said. ”One of the kids said we need to build a GPS tracking system for the trailer next time. These are very clever, smart kids. At least they’re trying to think of a solution rather than getting too upset about it.”
The youths, most of whom are from the Riverside area, were using the trailer because they don’t have a permanent location to store their robotics equipment, though the church had opened its attic to stow some items, Sisk said.
The hardware inside the house of worship has been used mainly for a summer camp for middle school students that began last week. The camp will continue, according to Sisk.
He said the RoboKong team had raised money to purchase the tools and components placed in the trailer, all of which was amassed over five years. Now team members face the prospect of having to go out and fundraise to buy replacement tools and gear in time to create a robot for the January 2013 First Robotics Competition, expected to be held at Cal State San Bernardino.
The annual contests require participants to create robots capable of autonomous actions, with an emphasis on team-work and ”real-world engineering.” During this year’s competition, teams had to deploy robots that could pick up and pitch basketballs through a hoop, Sisk said.
The RoboKong team came in 25th out of 60 contestants.
Sisk said team members are spreading the word about the theft using social media sites, asking anyone with information to come forward.
”The electronic components are going to be mostly worthless to most people,” Sisk said. ”They’re not going to have any use for the robot, except maybe for selling the aluminum as scrap metal.”
The RoboKong trailer is white with the team name, a picture of a Terminator-like robot face and ”FRC 2493” printed on the sides.
Anyone with information was urged to call the Riverside Police Department at (951) 826-5853, or Rick Sisk at (951) 790-9216.
