BotsIQ battle
BUTLER TWP — Hammer 2th and Last Ride didn't fare well in the gladiator-style battles they fought in an enclosed arena Thursday, but the students who built them learned a lot and will move on to bigger things.
Hammer 2th is a robot designed and built by one of the two Butler High School teams who competed in the preliminary round of the Southwestern Pennsylvania BotsIQ competition sponsored by Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Foundation that took place at Butler County Community College.
Last Ride was Moniteau High School team 2's robot. Technical difficulties prevented Moniteau's team 1 robot from competing.
The same fate befell the Seneca Valley Senior High School team robot Nemesis.
Butler's second robot Perpetual Motion was scheduled to compete in late afternoon.
The other half of the 65 schools participating in BotsIQ will have their preliminary round next week at Westmoreland County Community College, and the winners will meet for the finals April 13 and 14 at California University of Pennsylvania.
Each battle lasts up to three minutes and is fought in an arena enclosed by transparent material intended to protect spectators from the flying shards or chunks of robots that get dislodged during the fearsome clashes. The enclosure was set up on the stage in BC3's Succop Theater.
Hammer 2th was out maneuvered by DL Bot Squad, the robot built by a team from Deer Lakes High School. DL Bot Squad's spinning weapon found its mark and disabled Hammer 2th's weapon and one of its wheels.
“We lost continuity in our weapon and right wheel,” said Braedon Fencil, a junior on Butler's team. “We put up a good fight. They won, but it was a good battle.”
The team fielded a running robot, something not all teams did, and the preliminary round is intended to let the teams find and fix problems, said Stephanie Peters, a Butler High School math teacher, gifted program coordinator and one of the team's advisers.“This is one of the first times they've run the bot to see what's working and what isn't. They had a running bot ready to go.”There are larger lessons to be learned from the competition.“They really are learning all the STEM manufacturing elements they need for a career today and they're having fun,” Peters said.She said the students built the robots from materials donated by Penn United Technologies and purchased with donations from XTO Energy. American Glass Research is another sponsor.The students in the contest are in the schools' robotics club, and they built their robots after school on Wednesdays and Fridays beginning in December, said Dale Mills, a science and technology education teacher at Butler High School.Butler club members also enrolled in the Butler County Vocational-Technical School made their robot's spinning weapon and sent it to Penn United for heat treating, he said.All the plans and parts for the robots are documented in a binder in accordance with manufacturing industry standards.“They can completely rebuild that bot using that binder,” Peters said.Designing and building the robots requires skills in math, science, writing, technology and teamwork, Mills said.“The kids have to work together as a team,” he said.Those who were able to stay late were going to help take down the arena and clean up after the event.“We might make it out of here by 10,” Mills said.The Butler team members are seniors Jacob Owczarzak and Patrick Kriley; juniors Noah Proctor, Chad Meier and Braedon; sophomores Zach Potter and Zach Scott; and freshmen Alex Karnrumpf, Alex Grey and Katie Knights.
Ryan Gallagher, a senior and captain in Moniteau's team 2, said the Highlands High School team robot knocked out Last Ride's throttle, but not until after the two engaged in several high-speed impacts. Last Ride managed to disable its opponent's weapon.“I think we did pretty good,” said Ryan, who was at the helm of Last Ride's remote control.Hunter Hudak, leader of Moniteau's team 1, said his team's robot over heated and the speed control didn't work. The team couldn't fix either problem.Along with Hunter and Ryan, Moniteau team members include Cameron Lawhead, Justin Altman, Cassidy Fisher, Will Tennent, Zack Hartman, Jake Smith, Dylan Demko, Ross Tenney, Russel Parks and Nicholas Hougg.Seneca Valley's Nemesis didn't pass the pre-competition inspection because of a broken pillar block, which mounts to the body and helps support the motor.Joe Logsdon, a Seneca Valley High School teacher who works with the robotics club, said the competition was a learning experience and he is proud of the students.“All the students that do this have to make a commitment to stay after school. They meet in study periods and after school,” he said.The students designed and built Nemesis using computer aided design technology, 3D printing, CNC machining and electronics, he said.The team includes four freshmen who are new to competition.“It was a learning process. There's a learning curve with younger kids. They always underestimate the amount of time it takes to get this done and over estimate their skill level,” Logsdon said.Seneca team members are seniors Luke Bellack, Tyler Johnson, Robert Rodgers and Ben Snell; juniors Caroline Cohen and Jordon Ritchey; and freshmen Brandon Wright, Robbie Gibson, Jeremy Gill and Tiler Stoops.
