Based in Sylva, North Carolina, the Smoky Mountain Academic Robotics Team (SMART) is a group of students passionate about learning, engineering, programming, marketing, and teamwork. We compete in FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), actively organize and engage in leadership roles and community service within and beyond robotics and STEM, and foster strong bonds within our team, mentors, and community. Together, we are SMART.
At first, we were just an idea a few students and a couple of teachers had. Then, we were a club that met at school for 30 minutes every Friday. We soon realized we needed a lot of money to fund our team, so we found local sponsors and applied for grants from NASA and Duke Energy. Once we got the grant money, we were finally able to register for competitions and become the tight-knit family we are today.
At first, we were just an idea a few students and a couple of teachers had. Then, we were a club that met at school for 30 minutes every Friday. We soon realized we needed a lot of money to fund our team, so we found local sponsors and applied for grants from NASA and Duke Energy. Once we got the grant money, we were finally able to register for competitions and become the tight-knit family we are today.
Last Season
Our 2023 season was one of our most successful yet! We took our robot WORM-E to the UNC-Asheville and the Mecklenburg competitions. We were chosen for Alliance 4 at UNC-Asheville and became captain of Alliance 6 and recieved the Judges Award for the first time at Mecklenburg. This was the highest alliance we had ever been selected for, as well as the highest alliance we had ever been captain for, setting many records for our team. In our off season, we continued our work and outreach, hosting both our annual STEM camp at SCC and our first-time robotics camp at SMHS! We also attended Greening up the Mountains and SCC's annual STEAM Fair, and volunteered at an FLL competition in Hendersonville. Our team also competed in THOR West and won the competition as a member of Alliance 2! Our many successes this past season left us with many new goals for the upcoming FRC season Crescendo!