Two Heritage High School students will travel to Atlanta next month to compete in the SkillsUSA Robotics: Urban Search & Rescue competition.
Burl Grubb and William Prince have been hard at work, under the instruction of HHS teacher Sam Warwick, designing what they hope will be the robot to bring home the prize.
SkillsUSA is “the largest gathering of America’s future skilled workforce and the ultimate recognition of excellence in career and technical education,” according to its website.
Robotics is only one part of the event, which features competitions in just about any skill, from welding to photography.
Prince and Grubb, who are out of school for the summer, meet at the school daily to run tests, try different designs and see if they can build the robot to beat all robots.
Warwick said that the process for students being allowed to compete is fairly competitive. An interested student submits an application to Warwick and then goes through an interview process.
Warwick said he is looking for how well students can work with others, how they handle stress and frustration and what happens when they don’t understand something — do they quit or keep going?
Prince and Grubb are just two students from Warwick’s classes who fit the high standard to compete.
Their currently unnamed robot is designed to seek out explosives and remove them.
Warwick explained that most of the robot’s parts are 3D printed after being designed in a CAD program.
The competition has certain rules regarding the robot’s function — for instance, they can require a certain motor size or number of motors. Most of the wiring for the robot is custom-ordered to meet the competition’s specifications.
Every team will have things they must do to meet regulations. “It’s the stuff you CAN do that makes a difference in the way the robots perform,” Warwick said.
When asked about the number of hours it takes to prepare, Grubb responded, “More than we can count.”
The team utilizes a “scrap-bot” to test out different design ideas. Prince explained that they went through several different claw designs to try to capture the perfect grip and force. Instead of constantly changing their working robot, they use the scrap-bot, a sort of Frankenstein robot, to test their designs to ensure they work before placing them on the competing robot.
Prince explained that ornaments, which look like small blocks, will be placed within different mailboxes on the course during the competition. The team then uses the robot to seek out the hidden ornaments. Each ornament may have a different “problem” that needs to be addressed. For instance, one may be attached to a string that needs to be pulled, or one may be Velcroed to its spot, so the robot may need to tug a little harder to remove it.
Prince said the robot needs to be versatile in order to handle the different obstacles.
The competition, which is timed, also has specific rules for how the teams operate their robots. Different sections of the competition will require different aspects of teamwork. For example, during one section, Grubb and Prince will use hand-held radios to communicate.
Grubb, who is the spotter, will instruct Prince on how to maneuver the robot by giving detailed directions that include things like pace and timing.
Prince, who operates the robot, will not be able to see the course at all. He will stand with his back turned and rely entirely on Grubb’s instructions.
During another section, both Grubb and Prince will be able to see the course but will not be able to communicate. Navigating these different sections shows that communication and teamwork are essential.
If the robot has a mechanical breakdown, judges will allow the team to remove the parts and continue with the robot, but they will not be able to repair it.
Grubb and Prince will prepare as well as they can for the competition, but Warwick said sometimes teams just get lucky. They may find the ornaments on the first go, while other teams might have to look harder.
“You’ve got to be prepared to make your luck,” Warwick said.
Grubb, who just graduated from HHS, said that participating in the competition has helped nurture his problem-solving skills and has taught him to be able to focus on the details and understand how those details fit into the bigger picture.
Now that he is past graduation, Grubb has his sights set on Tennessee Tech, where he is considering a dual major in nuclear engineering and aerospace engineering.
Prince, who will be entering his senior year at HHS, said, “It’s given me a bit more experience working with electrical equipment and understanding important things like CAD and realizing stuff like, the tiniest thing, it makes the biggest outcome happen,”
While Prince has a little time to finalize his plans, he, too, is considering Tennessee Tech and is interested in electrical or mechanical engineering.
The skills they have learned with Warwick will serve them well on any of these paths.
“These students are on the cutting edge,” said Warwick, “this is where it’s starting.”
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