Two robotics teams from Warren County are gearing up – pun intended – to take on competition at the World Championship in Houston in mid-April.

Robotics coach Ginny Dickerson said both the Bovina Brainiacs FLL (First Lego League) fifth- and sixth-grade team and the Siege Robotics (Team 456) made up of seventh- through 12-grade students from Warren County have qualified and are working to raise funds for the trip to Texas April 15-19.

With all competition qualifications met, Dickerson said the teams are now turning their attention to funding their upcoming trip.

During Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen, the board unanimously approved a sponsorship application for $1,500 aimed at helping fund the upcoming trip to Texas; however, Dickerson said more support is still needed.

Anyone interested in making a monetary donation may do so by: mailing a check to 456 Robotics, PO Box 821792, Vicksburg, MS, 39182-1792; making a donation via PayPal by searching “456 Robotics”; or via Venmo by searching “456 Robotics” or scanning the QR code.

The Bovian Brainiacs are an FLL team at Bovina Elementary. The students have spent more than four months researching and preparing to present their project ideas, as well as learning how  to program the robot they designed to compete in competition missions. The team has won the Champions Award and back-to-back state championships. Additionally, the Brainiacs won third place in a field of 38 in the robot games. Brainiacs is a pipeline to Siege Robotics, where students may continue their robotics journey. There are currently five former Biraniacs on the Siege team.

Siege Robotics, Team 456, is a community-based robotics team made up of seventh- through twelfth-grade students representing both public and private schools. Students have designed, fabricated and programmed a robot that has collected and scored 11 ¾ inch-long cylinders that were then hung in 15 seconds during the FIRST Robotics 2025 Challenge Reefscape.