By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Robots invaded farm country Saturday.
They came with only the best intentions though.
Farmland in question was a course set up on the floor of the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University. The robots were miniature farm tractors tricked out by 17 teams from high schools from around the state and Indiana.
The teams came to compete in the fourth Falcon BEST Robotics Game Day… this year the theme was Bet the Farm.
Seventh grader Gabriel Mott maneuvers Bowling Green’s robotic farm machine through the course.
The “farm’ in this case was divided into four quadrants, one for each team. The teams had to maneuver their machines through the course to collect and plant corn seeds, harvest corn cobs from racks as well as plant lettuce, and harvest lettuce and pumpkins – all plastic facsimiles.
For Laura Dietz, the advisor for the Bowling Green High School team, the event, gives students as chance “to learn engineering process and problems solving.”
For the Bobcat team that problem solving involved a working on a last minute adjustment to their robot’s arm.
That’s all part of the competition, said Brandi Barhite, a member of the Falcon BEST committee.
“If something breaks down you have to make adjustments,” she said. In that, the robotics competition is much like a sports event.
That wasn’t the only way. Parents were on hand to cheer on the teams. School mascots added to the spirit. And a couple drummers beat out their cadences between the three-minute rounds of competition. Then there were the trombones and vuvuzelas contributing tuneless blats of encouragement.
The 17 teams, Barhite said, were the most since the competition started in 2013. The university provides all the robotic kits. The cost means it must expand the field slowly, and seek corporate sponsors. Lathrop Corp. And First Solar were this year’s sponsors.
She said President Mary Ellen Mazey was key to bringing the program to BGSU. She wanted something to promote the study of science, technology, engineering and math on campus.
More than 300 students competed this year. While the focal point is the robotics competition where teams maneuver through the farm course vying to see who can harvest the most, the competition has other aspects.
Students present marketing plans as well as a design t-shirts, websites and make streaming videos.
“We don’t want students to think engineering is only about robotics,” she said. “There’s a lot of avenues students can take in engineering, including working on marketing and communications for a company.”
Teams can range in size from four to 30, with students choosing to specialize in certain activities.
The competition is “definitely a recruiting tool for BGSU,” Barhite said.
The dozens of student volunteers helping to run the event, she said, were competitors during their high school days.
One of the Bowling Green team members might be one of those switching from competitor to volunteer next year.
Cameron Roehl has been on the team since he was a freshman, competing in the inaugural event. Next year he plans to attend BGSU to study mechantronics in the College of Technology.
As someone long interested in robotics, being on the team as a natural. As the only senior on the team, Roehl had to develop leadership skills.
David Tyson, a seventh grader, is new to the team. He said a teacher who’s a family friend encouraged him to join. While the team didn’t make it to the semifinals, he said, “we’re really proud of what we did. … We had fun.”
Driving the robot through the course was the most fun, he said, and all four team members on hand Saturday got a chance to drive. The other two team members there were Peyton Keeran, a junior, and Gabriel Mott, a seventh grader.
Roehl said that the team has made improvements every year, and with the young members of the team, he hopes that will continue.
At the end of the day, Hamilton Southeastern High School, from Fishers, Indiana, dominated the awards. Barhite said they are always a strong competitors.
The team took first place for the overall BEST award and in the robotics competition and Top Gun honors, for scoring the most points in a single round, as well as top prizes in CAD design, Founders Award, best marketing presentation, most robust machine, best engineering notebook.
Cardinal Stritch Catholic High School in Oregon also won a number of awards – team video design, web page design, best spirit and sportsmanship, and fourth place in the robotics competition.
Perrysburg High School was honored for most photogenic machine.
Other awards given out were: exhibit and interview, St. Ursula Academy; t-shirt design, Vanguard Technology Center; second place in robotics competition, St. Francis de Sales School; third place in robotics competition, Port Clinton High School; second place BEST Award, Millstream Career Center; and third place BEST Award, Maumee Valley Country Day School
The seven teams eligible to compete in the regional competition in December in Fargo, North Dakota are:
Hamilton Southeastern; Millstream Career Center; St. Francis de Sales School; Maumee Valley Country Day School; Port Clinton; Cardinal Stritch; and Anthony Wayne.
