Petoskey Paladins

Dec. 13, 2014

SPOTLIGHT ON ROBOTICS

The road to robotics is paved with more than just good intentions. It requires hard work, dedication and a lot of help from the whole community.

In fall 2010, a group of ambitious students approached Lance Bailey, physics instructor at Petoskey High School, and asked him about starting a robotics program.

Bailey wasn’t initially convinced that a robotics program was a good idea. In fact, the television show "Robot Wars" was what most people thought of when this topic was introduced.

However, after doing some research on an organization called FIRST, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, Bailey changed his mind. FIRST’s mission is to show students that science, technology and problem-solving can be fun and can lead to great careers.

"We visited the Traverse City and Sault Ste.

Marie teams and decided to start a Petoskey team," explained Tom Ochs, current coach of the Robotics Team. "As a rookie team, we got a grant of $6,500 from JCPenney to cover the registration process, and we were off."

TECH CAREERS

The Paladins’ goals are similar to those of FIRST and are complemented by other Petoskey Robotics teams overseen by point person Val Meyerson, Middle School Robotics Coach Mary Jean Meyerson, and Bailey as Coach of the Lego League teams.

"We get students involved in many aspects of design, engineering, manufacturing, programming, quality control and more," Ochs explained. "The goal is to encourage students to choose these as potential career paths."

Interactions with mentors working in these fields are what ultimately move students to the next level of career exploration, but the handson work with robots is what gets them started.

For the past three years, the Paladins have qualified to participate in state competition; only 64 robots from across Michigan are allowed to compete. And, for the past two years, they’ve only been three places short of qualifying for the world competition.

"We have had many successful robots and great seasons," Ochs said.

ROCKIN’ ROBOTS

The Paladins are involved in many activities, the biggest of which is the FIRST Robotics Challenge, the worldwide high school competition.

The next FIRST Challenge season starts in January, 2015 when everyone receives the game and robot rules for the season. The teams then have six weeks to design, build, wire, program, test and learn to drive their robot.

"The robots are then stored, untouched, until the competitions in March," Ochs explained.

"Last year’s game challenge for the robot included many components," explained Meyerson. "Our robot has a kicking mechanism to pass the ball. The kicker was designed via Computer-Aided Design by the team and then 3-D printed. And it uses springs to generate the kicking force–very cool." The robot had to kick a ball into the goal on its own and the team had to drive the robot. The Challenge offered points for getting the ball over the center truss and then into the goal on the other end of the field. There were also additional points for assists, making teamwork another important component.

CYBER COMMUNITY

In addition to participating in local events such as Petoskey’s Stroll the Streets, Festival on the Bay and the Holidazzle Parade, The Paladins are active mentors for the robotics teams in Petoskey’s grade and middle school.

They also help support fellow FIRST teams by going to schools to make presentations and encouraging other school districts to start robotics teams.

"The past two years, the state of Michigan has had a Michigan Department of Education grant that covers the full cost of registration and some additional funds to start building the robot," Ochs said.

"We are continuing to seek additional ways to be involved in the community, both with technology-related events and simple community service."

Ochs confirms that they’ve been well supported by the school district, but the robotics teams also depend on community involvement, both for financial support (the budget for the FIRST Robotics Challenge season is more than $20,000) and for finding mentors.

"We have started to build a larger base of mentors in all fields: design, engineering, Computer-Aided Design, programming, web design, mechanical, electronics and more, but we need adults with background and experience to help guide our students," Ochs said.

"The mentors who have participated have loved the experience," he added, "but sometimes it takes a good push to get them to jump into the pool with us."

To learn more about the Petoskey Paladins and other robotics teams or to offer support, visit www. petoskeypaladins.org and petoskeyrobotics.org.