by Graham Sturgeon, co-editor
ALEX HANKERD, the captain of the Owosso Robotics team, can be seen showing off the team’s robot during a Jan. 24 open house. The Owosso High School students have been planning and building the robot since Jan. 7 and will need to complete building by Feb. 21. Hankerd, a senior who will pursue a degree in plastic engineering at Ferris State University next year, demonstrated his electrical savvy during the open house, in addition to his public speaking skills. (Independent Photo/Graham Sturgeon)
The Owosso Robotics team showcased its 2017 robot during an open house on Tuesday, Jan 24 at Owosso High School. The 22-member team officially began its fourth season of FIRST In Michigan (FIM) robotics competition on Jan. 7 when the 2017 game challenge, FIRST Steamworks, was revealed.
The team will have six weeks to build a robot capable of building, fueling, and boarding a steam-powered aircraft. The robot will need to operate autonomously for the first 15 seconds of the challenge, with a student driver taking over manually for the remaining two minutes and 15 seconds.
Teams score points in the game by tossing balls of “fuel” into a generator, which processes and transport steam across the playing field to the aircraft. The robot must also carry gears to the aircraft in the middle of the playing field, where a team member will be stationed to attach the gears to the aircraft. Finally, the team will need to direct the robot to pull itself up into the aircraft to end the game. The team that is best prepared for take-off will be declared the winner.
Robotics teaches students many practical skills such as welding, fabrication, programming, engineering, assembly, and design, among other things, but one of the biggest challenges is funding the expensive program. A team will need at least $12,000 to $15,000 to build its robot and to pay the entrance fees for its two regular season competitions, and that does not cover the cost of entrance fees and travel expenses for the state and global competitions.
The Owosso team, as of Jan. 24, was about halfway to its initial goal of $12,000, but if the team qualifies for states and globals – which the Owosso team plans to do – the team will need to raise an additional $9,000 in entry fees. The team has counted on a number of local businesses to supply materials and necessary funds for their past robotics seasons. Such businesses as SLH Metals, Tri-Mer Corporation, Allied Motion Motor Products, Ford Motor Company, Hankerd Sportswear, and the Youth Advisory Committee of the Shiawassee Community Foundation have all come to the rescue so far this season, but the team will need additional support if it wants to participate in the state finals competition in Grand Rapids (April 12 through 15) and the global competition in Missouri (April 26 through 29).
In addition to needing funds and materials, the team has an equipment wish list that includes such items as a band saw, drill press, CNC router, belt sander, clamps, and a box trailer, among other tools. The team is led by mentors John Hankerd, Jim Hathaway, Jenn Bradley, Tony Pierce, and Tom Randall, but the group would love to see more adults volunteer to help guide the students.
The students will utilize vision optics to guide its robot, mecanum wheels to allow the robot to traverse the playing field, and the students are learning to operate Solidworks and other CAD programs that provide them with real world skills that they can use to enter the workforce immediately after high school. That is the goal of Hankerd and Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership (SEDP) CEO/President Justin Horvath, who helped to organize the open house. The SEDP has been working with the county’s schools to help build a Shiawassee County workforce that would be able to fill the growing need for skilled workers within the county, which has arisen along with the economic re-growth Shiawassee County is experiencing.
The team meets three times after school during the week, with optional Saturday meeting as well. The team’s first competition of the 2017 season will be March 3 and 4 at Kettering University, with its other regular season competition scheduled for April 7 and 8 at Shepherd High School.
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