Featured photo: (back from left) Dave Topps, Oliver Byl, Nancy Topps, Nolan Meehan, Tim Johnston, Andrew
Johnston, Doug Nadrofsky, Ian McTavish, Madison Smrtka, Alora Hunninghan; (middle row) Morghan Kiverago, Sam Topps; (front row) Avalon Martin-McTavish, Sydney Taylor, Keira Brisebois, Jordan Ross, and Jim Fraser. Missing: Noah Alexander, Keegan Chan, Daniel Cuthbert, Riley De Gans, Cameron Gibson, Piers Hancock, Braiden Jones, Victoria Russell, Collin Walsh.
The pressure is on. The robotics team at Huntsville High School learned on Saturday, January 7 what their challenge would be for this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition. In the annual competition, high school-aged teams pit robots they have designed, built and programmed against each other on a special playing field. This year’s challenge is steamworks based and teams have just six weeks to prepare their robots for battle.
“Six weeks is not a lot of time compared to what companies spend on these kinds of projects,” said team captain Andrew Johnston. “It’s a lot of work but it’s enjoyable. Our team is at the best it’s ever been. We are organized and we’ve got a lot of reliable, loyal members that are really ready. Every year we’ve been getting a little bit better. I think we’re going to come close to winning this year.”
The Ross family has already stepped forward with costume supplies, said Johnston – steampunk goggles, lab coats, steampunk corsets – that the team will wear for the competition.
Sponsors and mentors are an important part of the team’s success, providing everything from materials and machine time for fabricating the robot to advice and help with calculations, particularly since there are more than 60 pages of rule the team must comply with.
“Reynolds (Metal Fabricators) helps us a lot with metal bending and supplies us with aluminum,” said Johnston. “That helps a lot. Metal is one of the most expensive things we use.”
For this build, the team is currently looking for donations of 3/4-inch and 1/2-inch plywood, 2x4s and
FRP Plastic (0.9), among other things.
After spending all day Saturday brainstorming and beginning to narrow down their ideas early this week, the team will head to Kimberly-Clark on Wednesday to meet with mentor engineers there to start fine-tuning their design.
“We have an intense 6 weeks that starts now,” teacher Ian McTavish told the team on Saturday. “There’s a lot of time given by our mentors and we really appreciate that.”
Despite being a competition, robotics teams also form a friendly community that helps everyone. A team from North Bay invited the Hoyas to use their practice field last year when our local team ran out of time to build their own. And the Hoyas mentor a team from Haliburton.
Hoya Robotics robot Valkyrie practices for the puck drop at a Huntsville Otters game (supplied photo)
Hoya Robotics passes on that goodwill through community outreach, taking their robot to schools, libraries, special events and fundraisers. That kind of outreach was how the team’s build leader, Sam Topps, got interested in robotics, joining a TLDSB LEGO robotics team and going to a competition where he met the North Bay team that mentors the Hoyas. The grade 11 student has been involved with the Hoya team for three years now and said the experience will be helpful for a future career. “I just really like building things and designing things.”
Team member Alora Hunnighan, who moved to Huntsville last year and counts this as her first official year with the team, agreed. “I didn’t know anything about robotics but I’ve learned so much. It’s really, really interesting. Electronics and robotics and computers are a big part of our world. It’s something that we all need to learn. I would encourage people to come out and learn about it and give it a try.”
For a sneak peek at the challenge the team will face, check out the video below. And if you’re interested in joining Kimberly-Clark, Reynolds Metal Fabricators, MBRP, Canadian Tire, Muskoka Community Network, the Rotary Club of Huntsville, Outside Inside Gifts, Century 21, Kelsey’s, and Sandra Pizzale as one of the team’s sponsors, you can find out how to do that here.
Don’t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free, twice-weekly newsletter here.
Great article, Dawn, and congratulations to Ian McTavish for his passion for this project. Ian donates considerable time to making robotics accessible to his students. Well done!