ONTARIO, Ohio—With one victory already under their belts, Stellar Robotics is hoping to keep the momentum going during the official competition season that begins in March.
5413-Stellar Robotics, a community-based FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team in Mansfield, held a rally Tuesday night at Ontario Christian Church, allowing visitors to get a sneak peak of their robot, “Guido.”
To the tune of electro music, the robot stacked five totes on top of another, topping the stack with a recycling bin—this act is similar to what they will have to do for the challenge called “Recycle Rush.”
Team facilitator Chantal DeYoe commented, “I’m just thrilled that we’re at this point.”
The 13-member team, with the guidance of 10 mentors, has invested at least 120 hours in the building of the robot. The build season officially began Jan. 3.
Mentor Bob Shutt, an employee at Rable Machine in Mansfield, said he’s enjoyed helping the students throughout the building process. “It was neat seeing them put it together. The kids are energetic,” he said.
Team facilitator Orion DeYoe, an employee at Bellevue Manufacturing Company, said the team received a kit of parts that included basic items, “And then we actually had to purchase the rest. We machined pretty much 80 percent of what’s on the robot ourselves,” he said.
Members built the robot at the Kehoe Center in Shelby. “They let us use they’re space, their machine shop and computers and stuff to design and build the robot,” he said.
“As a rookie team, we didn’t want to overextend,” he continued. “We wanted to keep it simple and achieve what we can achieve, so we went with a design that was simple and robust that could play the game well…and I think we’re in good shape. Our robot, relative to the game, is better than our robot that we won MVRC [Mahoning Valley Robotics Challenge] at.”
MVRC, which was held last September, was the first offseason competition in which Stellar Robotics competed and won.
Team facilitator Randy Allen praised the team for their robot, noting, “As of right now, we have not seen another team that can pick up a tote in any configuration and upside-down. Many of them are relying on the lifts. They can only pick them up one direction. We can pick a tote up upside-down, right-side-up, length-wise, width-wise, whatever, and so that is a definite advantage that we have over many of the teams.”
Until the competition begins, the team is not allowed to touch their robot. “This is the last day of the official 2015 build season, so basically teams all across the world have to bag their robot, sign a form and they’re not allowed to touch the robot until their first competition in a couple weeks,” explained Orion DeYoe.
The team will have two chances to make it to the FIRST Championship in April. The Greater Pittsburgh Regional will be held March 5-7 and the Buckeye Regional will be held March 26-28.
“If we win either of those two regionals or win certain awards at the regionals, we qualify for world championships, which is at the end of April, held in St. Louis. There’ll be like 600 teams there,” said Orion DeYoe.
In the meantime, the team will brainstorm different strategies they can utilize during the competition. They also have to build a cart to carry the robot and a driving station.
Chantal DeYoe believes in her team. “Everything is coming together, and I think we’re going to do well.”
Team member Gabby Allen concurs. After watching the robot successfully complete the mock challenge Tuesday night, “that was just a big plus,” she said.
