The Manufactory is proud to sponsor the Walnut Hills Highs School Nuts robotics team. If you visit The Manufactory and see a large group of bright looking young people huddled around a pizza and/or an intriguing looking cube shaped machine, they are most likely Nuts. This past summer the team spent many hours taking a wide range of our Safe Use classes in preparation for the upcoming season.
In September, robotics teams around the world received the instructions that describe the specifications and challenges of this year’s tournaments. They then begin planning how they will build and program their robot to complete the challenges. Design requires a balance of strategies. The primary goal is to complete the defined tasks. This year’s challenge basically involves picking up different sized balls depositing them into a tall tube that sits on a cart. Then you must move the cart to the top of a ramp. They compete against another team on the same field at the same time, so you must design your robot for both offense and defense, blocking the other team is permitted. More weight makes your robot stable, but it also makes you less agile and reduces battery life. There are also very strict rules governing material use, design parameters, etc. The team must also prepare a detailed document about how their robot was built.
The Nuts became aware of the Northern Indiana FTC Regional Robotics Tournament which was happening in two weeks, they decided to enter. In only two weeks they constructed a robot that qualified them to compete in the Indiana State Championship competition. They also took prizes for: Winning Alliance; Inspire award 2nd Place; PTC design award 1st Place, Innovate and Control Award 2nd Place.
We look forward to more great things from our robotics team.
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