-
May 5, 2015The saying, “It’s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game,” is not a cliche for the VASJ Vikinators (the school’s robotics club). The team was thrilled to take part in the 5th Annual AWT Robotics Competition at Lakeland Community College at the end of April.
“The excitement of having a team and seeing something you worked on for an entire year come together was exciting,” says Louis Vertosnik.“I was disappointed that we didn’t get as far as last year but happy that we got to be in it and that [our robot] didn’t stop working.”
“It’s more about just being there and participating than about winning,” his twin brother Alex Vertosnik added.
The purpose of the event, which was sponsored by the Fredon Corporation (owned by alumnus Roger Sustar ’61) is to introduce students to the world of manufacturing through robot combat. High school teams work with local manufacturers to design, build, test and battle 15 lb. combat robots.
The VASJ Vikinators worked with sponsors Lincoln Electric to build their robot, DOOMBA. “It looks like a Roomba (robot vacuum cleaner) of doom,” says Louis of how the robot got its name.
The VASJ Vikinators robot, DOOMBA.Lincoln Electric served as much more than just the financial backers of the team, though. “We worked with them to design and they were with us at the table at the competition when we had technical issues,” Louis said.
“Without their financial backing and the expert robotics engineering knowledge of Carl Kalkhof, Kyle Harbaugh, and Mark Fisher, we could never compete at such a high level and with such a uniquely designed robot,” says VASJ Engineering instructor and club moderator Gary Minadeo ’74.
The design process began at the beginning of the school year when the students started working on the robot during their Engineering III class. Preparing for combat involved completely disassembling last year’s robot, determining which parts were needed and designing a strategy for building the new robot.
“We had to custom engineer almost all of the pieces,” says Louis.
The hard work of the team, made up of senior Paulina Gombita, juniors Jacob Stauffer, Alex Vertosnik and Louis Vertsonik, sophomore John Allen and freshman Jon Adkins, paid off.
Teams battle for three minutes or until a robot stops working or a team forfeits. If both robots are still working after three minutes, judges determine the winner.Although some of the parts became inoperable during combat, DOOMBA never stopped moving -- something the team was very proud of and something that impressed the judges.
“DOOMBA received high marks again for the unique spinner design and its amazing durability,” Minadeo adds.
“What impressed me the most was the use of the scientific process to analyze DOOMBA's strength and weaknesses from last year's competition, prioritize their impact on winning, derive possible solutions, select the best course of action, act, test and reevaluate,” says Minadeo.
“When the team installed the metal retainers and realized it worked and within all competition weight restrictions, they lit up with excitement and I busted buttons with pride. This is learning. This is the right stuff. This is VIKING STEM.”
In addition to honing their Engineering skills, the VASJ Vikinators are learning skills about teamwork, project management, time management, documentation development, electronics, mechanics, design testing, manufacturing, organization, safety and perseverance.
The Vikinators entered this year’s competition with high hopes after a fifth place finish in their first attempt last year, but were knocked out in the fourth of seven rounds of the double-elimination tournament.
But as the saying goes, the Vikinators’ heads are held high and they are proud of how they played the game. Plans are already underway to improve the DOOMBA for next year’s battle.
“This program is great for the kids and the future of manufacturing,” says Minadeo. “We will go all the way next year.”
