First competition for the Warsaw Area Career Center Engineering-Robotics Class is Saturday, with the first competition for the Robotics Club scheduled for Nov. 12.
According to Abbi Richcreek, WACC robotics teacher and club advisor, the class is competing Saturday in Bloomington at the Life Sciences Building at Ivy Tech. The theme for the Sixth Annual VEX Robotics Tournament is “Rub of the Green.”
Saturday’s competition is full competition, Richcreek said, meaning it filled up. WACC is taking three teams to compete.
“High school teams from around the state are competing,” Richcreek said. “We won last year. We were their rookie team. So there’s a little pressure there.”
Each team in the all-day competition has three students, but WACC’s teams have four. There’s a driver, coach and a third builder on each team.
Sophomore James Wynn will be competing for the second year.
“It’s a golf-based competition so the main objective is to hit the golf balls into a goal. We’re shooting them in instead,” said Wynn.
Asked to describe his team’s robot, Wynn said, “I’ve been sort of referring to it as a scorpion because it has a scorpion-like look.”
The front has two wheels which hold the balls in. Since they are launching the balls backward, Wynn said, they have to be pulled forward.
“We haven’t tested it yet. We’re still building it, so we hope it works,” Wynn said.
For getting a ball on the opponent’s green, teams score one point. For getting a ball in the opponent’s goal, teams score 10 points.
The robots are limited in size to 15 inches wide by 15 inches long by 18 inches high. Wynn said their robot won’t be that tall, but it will definitely be as long and wide as allowed.
This year’s competition, he said, is “quite a bit different. Last year’s used rings and this uses balls. We could move around the field, but this year we are restricted.”
The robotics club’s first competition is in Zionsville Nov. 12. The contest is a VEX World Qualifier. A second contest is scheduled for Dec. 3 at Warren Central. Teams have to win at qualifiers to advance to the World VEX Championship in the spring.
Sophomore Alex Demopoulos said the Nov. 12 competition is based on scoring balls and cylinders into vertical goals.
“The ball is half the size of your head,” Demopoulos said.
Junior Andrew Cox said the objective is to get more points than the opposing alliance. Each alliance is broken into two teams.
Four robots with five to seven people on each team are going to the competition from Warsaw, Cox said.
Demopoulos and Cox are on the same team and both are competing for a second year.
“The chassis is almost complete. The main component, the arm, is nearly complete,” said Demopoulos. “We just need to finish up and practice.”
Cox said he feels they will do better this year because they are more efficient and have a sturdier design than last year.
Competing last year, said Demopoulos, helped a lot this year not only with team building but also design and concept.
They are a little nervous, but are confident in their abilities and experience, Cox and Demopoulos said.
One student in both the class and club is sophomore Ryan Lewis.
Competing in both contests, he said, is “kind of challenging because you have so much opposition and the robotics are so different.”
Lewis said the different robots are interesting and it’s fun to see what the different teams can do and make.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Lewis said. “I think we have a good chance.”
Donations to the club or class may be sent to the Warsaw Area Career Center, attention Warsaw robotics. For more information, e-mail Richcreek at arichcreek@warsaw.k12.in.us
