Bartlett High robotics team advances to regional competition
For the second time in three years, the robotics team from Bartlett High School used its engineering know-how and presentation skills to earn a berth to the regional BEST Robotics championships at Auburn University in Alabama.
The Midwest BEST Robotics competition - which stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology - was held Saturday at Bartlett High School. The school's nearly 40 members were among three teams to advance to the Southern regional site.
Many of Bartlett's team members participate in Elgin Unit District 46's Academy of Science Engineering and High Technology, based at Bartlett High School.
Also advancing from the Midwest were teams from Lincoln Way East High School in Frankfort and Davison High School in Davison, Mich.
Saturday's competition took place in the Bartlett gymnasium, where 10 teams had entire cheering sections in the stands, including pep bands, school mascots and cheers.
Leading up to the competition, this year called, "Just Plane Crazy," teams had six weeks to build a robot capable of assembling a model airplane in three minutes.
"That's the hardest part. Three minutes just goes by so fast," said junior Nicole Grieble of Bartlett. "We've assembled the plane before, just not in three minutes."
Davison High School, regarded as a powerhouse among the BEST robotics teams, was the only school to come close to assembling the complete airplane, and consequently it won the head-to-head robot competition.
On the playing field, teams tried to maneuver their robot from the assembly room into a warehouse to retrieve the plane's parts, before trying the assembly. Teams earned points just for retrieving the parts. Consequently, most students set that as their goal.
Students from Naperville North and Naperville Central high schools participated but neither school advanced to the semifinal or final rounds.
The three students from Naperville North, including Sean O'Halloran, John Mercouris and Donald Hruska, scrapped their original robot the night before the competition, with the intention of designing a more efficient one.
"Our drive train probably was the best thing we had going for us," O'Halloran said. "We mounted the engines right on the wheels, and added screws to the wheels for traction. We were trying to build the most efficient robot, and the most robust."
Engineers from Johnson Controls have supported BEST Robotics since it formed in 1993.
"We fully fund it for schools," says Melanie Anderson, of Johnson Controls' Chicago Systems Branch in Arlington Heights. "We're trying to get high school students excited about engineering."
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