Team 456-Siege Robotics is ready to take on the world, but needs help from the community to get there.

The community robotics team, which works and practices at the Army Engineer Research and Development Center, qualified for the FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston, Texas April 19-21. The team earned a berth in the championship by winning the Bayou Regional in New Orleans in late March.

This will mark the first time in the team’s 19-year history that they have earned a chance to compete in the world championships.

“It is going to mean the world to us,” Team 456 lead mentor Chuck Dickerson said of going to worlds. “Our team has been around since 2000 and it is the first time we have qualified to compete. We are going, we just need the community to help us foot the bill to get there.”

The team has been able to raise the money to cover the entry fee to the tournament, but needs help covering an additional $8-10,000 in travel expenses and money spent on the robot itself. The team plans to leave Tuesday and then will set-up Wednesday before competing Thursday, Friday and hopefully Saturday.

“We have a lot of travel expenses and we have been trying to work on our robot some and improve it,” Dickerson said. “We have hotel rooms and travel costs to get there. We need helping funding the trip for the kids because it was kind of unexpected for us and we really could use the community getting behind us.”

To donate to Team 456, you can send a check to PO Box 821792 Vicksburg, MS 39182 or visit the team’s website at www.siegerobotics.org and click the donate button. Team 456 is classified as a not-for-profit under the name 456 Robotics and all donations are tax deductible.

Team 456 will be competing against more than 400 teams from around the world including the United States and Canada as well as Australia, Israel, Brazil and more. The Vicksburg team dominated during the Bayou Regional and enters the world championships confident in their ability to compete on the international stage.

““I am 100 percent confident that we can go into Houston and play just as well as any of these other teams from around the world,” Dickerson said. “Every year, I have known our kids should be there and be highly competitive there. This year they get their shot.”

To follow the team as they compete in Houston visit Team 456 on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Team456/.