Though they didn’t have quite the futuristic sophistication of the fighting robots from “Big Hero 6,” seven middle school students still brought the the thrills with their robots in this year’s VEX Robotics competition Jan. 9.

The students, led by Wareham robotics club teachers Suzanne Taber and Carl Junier, competed at Bristol Community College. Taber said robotics competitions are held internationally, and that the rules are the same, but the challenges the robots have to complete are different. For instance, Taber said, last year, the robots had to be built to pick up PVC tubes, and stack them.

This year, the robots from 16 different teams had to be able to shoot foam balls into a high net, or underneath it. The challenge was two minutes in length, and two teams from different schools were pitted against each other. The two teams from Wareham were comprised of both upperclassmen and lowerclassmen, and both created robots that pushed the balls under the net, but it was the younger kids who made it to the semifinals.

“Theirs was a little more efficient in turning,” Taber said.

Taber said the club is not only intellectual, but it also fosters teamwork, because each team only has one robot.

“They have to really learn groupwork skills, because they have one bot, but they all have ideas of what they want to do,” Taber said. “Everyone wants to be the guy building, but someone has to be thinking ahead.”

Though Taber and Junier oversee the club, Junier said he and Taber “take a backseat to the whole thing.”

Even though this year’s group of competing students were all boys, there was one girl present. Taber said she joined the club a little too late to have any input on the robots, but that she will be able to compete next year.

The club and the competition transportation are funded by Beyond School Time.