Battle of the bots; Teams compete at Dream It. Do It. competition at AHS
Published 11:05 am Monday, January 18, 2016
Members of the Mysterious George and I.J. Holton robotics teams compete Saturday at the Robotics VEX competition in Packer Gym. — Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
One of Mysterious George’s robots picked four balls up with a chain before lifting them into two spinning wheels and finally propelling them across a court and into a net.
Mysterious George, or teams 8091 and 8091B, were just two of 36 teams that came together to compete in the Dream It. Do It. Southern Minnesota VEX Robotics Tournament at Austin High School on Saturday. It was the first robotics competition held in Austin.
Though Mysterious George’s robots may look a bit complex to some, team members say they chose a relatively simple design.
Teams compete Saturday in Packer Gym during the Robotics VEX competition.
“We wanted to make sure that we would put in the balls from the top really easily and shoot really consistently, so we just made two chains, picks it up real good, and we made sure to make it light,” said Lukas Howard, 14.
In the competition, teams build a robot designed to either propel balls into a net or push them under a bar below the net. Teams earn more points for getting the balls in the net, and they can also earn higher points by scoring with special orange balls.
I.J. Holton Intermediate School students Carson Hjelmen and Izzy Hemann tell judge Coby Cost about their robot in the pit area Saturday during the Robotics VEX competition at Austin High School. Hjelmen and Hemann were members of the Holton Engineers A team.
Riverland Community College instructor Bob Bender said robotics helps teach students a variety of skills.
“It builds team spirit, learning to work together,” said Bender, who teaches welding and industrial maintenance at Riverland in Albert Lea.
Bender has helped grow robotics teams in the area. When he started being involved with VEX about four years ago, there were about 30 teams in the state. Now VEX is near 200.
Riverland served as a bit of a mediator, helping schools in the region kick off robotics programs and helping supply robot kits.
About 36 teams competed in Saturday’s tournament, with another four just competing in the skills tournament. About five or six kids compete per team.
Bender thanked businesses like Hormel Foods Corp., IBM, Fastenal, Hy-Vee and Pizza Ranch for donating in some way to the tournament.
Bender said robotics is a great way to get kids thinking and learning about engineering in a fun way, and it also matches well with programs likes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and Project Lead the Way.
Sam Parks, from left, Seth Wagner and Oliver Andersen, members of one of the Mysterious George teams compete during the Robotics VEX competition Saturday in Packer Gym.
The two Mysterious George teams feature about 11 total students and includes homeschoolers and a mix of students from Austin High School and Ellis Middle School.
Though it’s Lukas’ first year competing, he said he’s enjoyed being a part of the team.
“I love just love robots and technology, and I love taking stuff apart and putting it back together,” Lukas said. And this is plenty of that. And it’s just a good feeling when you got something working that not a lot of people could do on their own.”
Along with being a great way to learn about engineering, Mysterious George coach Arik Andersen said robotics teaches kids many life skills.
All the robots are built using VEX parts, though some schools and teams can invest more into building their bots, while others use stock kits. That means students also need to learn teamwork and management by deciding what to spend the money on, whether it’s wheels, motors or other parts. Andersen also noted the teams teach students how to argue and disagree, which is part of working together on such projects and, eventually, the workplace.
Robot Teams
AHS senior Corey Todalen was on hand to help out the VEX students on Saturday. Todalen and AHS’s team 3055, also called Furious George, is a FIRST Robotics team and didn’t compete Saturday.
Though a different robotics league than Todalen’s high school team, it teaches many of the same concepts.
“Honestly, I don’t see a lot of people in my grade getting that interested in it, and it’s kind of a shame,” he said. “Because a lot of these skills translate really well into the job market.”
“Really, I’m just excited to see a lot of kids get interested in STEM and computers,” he added.
Todalen noted that robotics teaches design skills and computer programming skills to develop the control programs for the robots from scratch, along with many little managerial things. Not everyone is a programmer, welder or builder. A lot of members help organize the team, keep the budget in line, make sure they have sponsors and more.
“It’s not just building a robot and making sure that it works and all that, it’s also making sure that the team works,” Todalen said.
