Clawson Middle School Robotics Team Wins Two State Champ Awards
(Clawson Schools Press Release, March 8, 2016)
Clawson, MI – The Clawson Middle School Robostangs received two awards – the Judge’s Award and Build Award – at the State Championship held at Michigan State University February 21. During the qualification matches, the two Robostang teams ranked 5th and 7th out of 26 teams participating.
“Most of all,” commented the judges “the team’s enthusiasm and extremely high confidence in their robot was outstanding!” The Judge’s Award was also based on “the robot’s high creativity and design”.
In awarding the Build Award, the judges said: “The Robostangs had a very well designed and fabricated machine.” They pointed out several innovations which made them stand out:”
An electric ‘eye’ that saved energy by stopping the launch wheel motor if there was no ball ready to go on the bot
A set of E-Stop buttons to stop the drive motors when they were actuated by hitting the front score goal pipe, which made it easy to stop in an ideal scoring position
Several axles and chains to keep them in sync and save money on motors
Use of wheels and tracks in combination on pickup/load mechanism to aid in picking up balls quickly even if they did not hit them at an optimal angle.
Clawson graduates Steve and Dan Carpenter serve as coaches/mentors for the team. Middle School Robotics team members include: Grace Back, Lauren Bieszczad, Jayden Billershaw, Samantha Bosch-Bird, Lexiss Ewald, Andrew Gomoll, Issiah Johnson, Jonathan Kinney, Ryan Lindsay, Colin McClure, Patrick McLeod, Benjamin Nader, Riley Pamplin, Jacob Pfaff, Joshua Riley, Logan Ryan, Aidan Shapiro, Dylan Shea and Norah Stewart.