The Spelbots Robotics Team participated in robotics competitions from 2005-2014. The Spelbots Robotics Team is inactive and recruitment activities have been suspended. Our students are engaging in
departmental activities,
innovative projects and scholarly endeavors across campus.
The goal of SpelBots, Spelman College’s robotics team, was to encourage students and young women of African descent to explore robotics and computer science. From 2014-2016, the team was led by
Jerry Volcy, Ph.D., Brown-Simmons professor, computer and information sciences and director of the
Spelman Innovation Lab, and is funded by the National Science Foundation, Boeing and General Motors.
The SpelBots, founded in 2004 by Andrew Williams, Ph.D., made history in 2005 as the first all-female, all African-American undergraduate team to qualify and compete in the International RoboCup four-legged robot soccer competition. In another history-making moment, the SpelBots tied for first place in the RoboCup Japan 2009 Standard Platform League Nao League humanoid soccer championship.
The SpelBots also visited Washington, D.C. to attend an Education Technology Showcase to demonstrate their robots to U.S. senators and the director of the National Science Foundation. Spelman was one of 21 schools, and the only historically Black college or university, selected to showcase their technology."