By TOM GERROW
BG Independent News
The Falcon BEST robotics competition landed at BGSU’s Stroh Center on Saturday. Fourteen teams gathered to go head-to-head and test the mettle of their robots, as well as the skills of the robots’ drivers and spotters, on a game field with a variety of challenges. This was the 13th year for the competition at BGSU.
The robotics competition was the day’s highlight, but Falcon BEST – for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology – also incorporates other elements.
“We are excited to expose younger students and community members to all the different things that they can do that goes into Falcon BEST,” said Katrina Heilmeier, associate director of recruitment at BGSU. “That not only includes building the robot, but there’s also coding. They also do presentations to market and sell their ideas on why their robot might be the best. So, it’s really a chance for us to engage local students at a younger age, and we’re so thrilled to be able to host it at Bowling Green State University.”
Teams from area high schools and middle schools, along with other youth groups, participated in the competition. Each team was given the same equipment and parts and had eight weeks to build their own robot, while receiving advice and guidance from BGSU’s College of Engineering and Innovation and other technical professionals in the area.
“It’s open to anybody that wants to bring a robot and try it, middle school, high school,” said Lisa Schaller, Falcon BEST field coordinator and an assistant teaching professor in Construction Management at BGSU. “And we’ve opened it up to 4-H groups, FFA groups, Boy Scout troops, home schools, so we can get more students involved in this.”
Schaller has overseen the construction of the robotic game field since the competition began at BGSU, and she will be on the national game design team for next year’s competition. Schaller gets an assist from university students who volunteer to help build the game field.
For Ethan Miller, a junior at BGSU who is studying construction management, this was his third year participating in the event. In addition to helping construct the game field, he also recruited several of his Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers to help score and judge the competition.
“We have a list of rules provided by the founders of Best Robotics that they put out every year,” Miller said. “The teams are judged by how they do during the competition on the field, on the points that they earn and the tasks they accomplish. They are also graded on their marketing and their presentation skills. And then there’s an award for sportsmanship and their team chemistry.”
Miller will be accompanying Schaller to assist at the regional competition, held from Dec. 5 to Dec. 7 in Wichita, Kansas. Five teams from this event will also make the trip to Wichita. Three advance via the BEST Award: Maumee Valley Country Day School, Hamilton Southeastern High School and Eastwood Schools. Two teams advanced via robotic performance: St. Francis de Sales School and Pettisville School.
Teams from Wayne Trace High School, Patrick Henry Schools, St. Carlo Acutis Homeschool Robotics, Horizon Science Academy of Lorain, McComb High School, Huron City School, St. Ursula Academy, and Elmwood Middle School also participated in this year’s competition.
“This is an all-year planning process between the students as well as our faculty and staff here on campus,” Heilmeier said. “It really is a labor of love.”
