The competition is intense while exhilarating at the same time.
“It’s kind of a battle of wits,” said Ethan Straider. “We get to use our minds and imagination to build robots and compete against other people.”
The competitions can be grueling as the robotics team of Straider, Tyler Donovan, Christian Vuenrostro and Jadwin Manuel, from the Calhoun County Career and Technical Center (CCCTC), try to get the robot they built from scratch to outperform the competition in a variety of tasks.
“Competition is very stressful. Something always goes wrong,” said Donovan, who wrote the autonomous computer program that controls the robot. “But that’s the challenge of it.”
“When you see the other team’s robots run smoother than yours, that’s stressful,” said Straider, who noted every team has a completely different looking robot trying to perform the same tasks. “But it pushes us to get better.”
In the first year of the new class at CCCTC, the robotics team has already earned a trip to state, but they’ve set their sights much higher.
“I’d love to go to nationals as a first year team,” Straider said.
That will take a top three finish in one of two state competitions coming up that will include 50 robotics teams from all over the state. Jennifer Bennett, who teaches the class at the CCCTC, doesn’t doubt the potential of the team.
“They’ve already been extremely successful for our first year of ever doing this,” Bennett said. “When you see how much they enjoy it, you know that they’re capable of most anything.”
The pre-engineering and robotics program is for 9th-12th graders and provides students hands-on experience with engineering concepts. Bennett has 13 students in the course this year – Straider, Jasmine Pulliam and Cortland Good from Calhoun City; Donovan, Manuel, Caleb Redwine, Jacob Hillhouse, Jennifer Nix and J.D. Langford of Bruce; Vuenrostro, Wesley Edmundson, J.C. Hare and Calum Vanlandingham of Vardaman.
“This is a two-year program and if they complete all four semesters students earn a physics credit,” Bennett said. “They also earn credit with SolidWorks, that allows them to take a professional license exam and become certified in SolidWorks. That’s an excellent certification to earn if you’re entering an engineering program in college.”
Bennett, who taught math at Vardaman High School last year, but has a mechanical engineering degree and worked for years in the industry before entering the teaching profession, said the students thrive on the practical applications of the course.
“We take tours and work directly with various companies,” Bennett said. “Last Friday, we went to Pontotoc Springs where they design automotive springs. We’ve toured Caterpillar. The students really get excited seeing the same principles they work on in class being practiced in the work place”
Bennett said she looks forward to visiting Haworth and Weyerhaeuser in the second year of the class and helping them with projects.
The class focuses on all aspects of engineering. The students write a research paper each nine weeks on different engineering disciplines.
“We touch on all the major disciplines – electrical, mechanical, computer, industrial, and a little chemical,” Bennett said. “We hope to add flight endurance next year. A lot of the kids are really interested in that one. There’s a bridge design competition that we will get into in the future also.”
The class is very different from the standard classroom environment. There is no lecturing or a lesson plan. It’s all hands-on activity with Bennett providing the guidance along the way.
“They all have laptops and boxes that have their robots in it and immediately go to work when entering the class,” Bennett said. “They get so interested in what we’re doing I never have to go looking for them when they get off the bus. They get in here very quickly and go right to work.”
“This is so much better than just sitting down and getting talked to,” Vuenrostro said. “You can see what you’re doing in front of you. It’s hands on and you’re constantly working to fix problems. You get so much more out of it.”
The class is accompanied by an online program the students log into on their laptops and follow the coursework there. They even have access to the program at home.
“They can check things out and take them home to work on,” Bennett said. “I’ve had several parents talk about how exciting it is to see their kids at home loving homework.”
It doesn’t feel like homework to the lead robotics team that gathers regularly at Straider’s home to work on their competition robot.
“They called me on a Saturday night, begging to get into the class to get some parts for their robot,” Bennett said. “They’re excited about all aspects of the class.”
The class does have a lot of expense with all the robotic parts and equipment, travel and competition entry fees.
They raise funds by selling laser engraved plaques, selling team sponsorships, candy and various other fundraisers.
“We usually try to rent a van to go on our tours and to competition because it’s costly going in a big bus with only 10-12 students, but I did get my bus license so I could drive it when we have to,” Bennett said. “I’m looking for grants to buy a van, because the allied health, teacher academy and digital media courses have a need for it also.”
There will be greater need next year when the class expands as it’s expected to.
State guidelines state the first year class can only have 15 students, and Bennett said their classroom is better suited for 12 “so it’s worked out well this year.”
Next year another 15 students can join with the returning students entering the second year of the program.
“There’s a lot of interest in this class,” CCCTC Director Kyle Clark said. “The kids seem real excited about it. I think it could really grow.”
State recommendation is students have a C or higher in pre-algebra to enter the class. Bennett believes students should at least have algebra I as a prerequisite.
“There is a lot of math involved, especially geometry, so if they’ve had no exposure to it, some of the concepts can be challenging,” Bennett said.
It’s been the right kind of challenge for Donovan, Straider, Vuenrostro and Manuel who are busy preparing for the Vex State Competition Feb. 23-24 in Raymond and the TSA state competition March 25-27 in Jackson.
Straider said the time they spend together trying to improve the robot has been the most rewarding part of the class.
“These guys are the best part of all of this,” he said. “I didn’t know any of these guys before taking this class because we all went to different schools.”
“Spending time with these guys and meeting new people at the competitions is the best part,” Vuenrostro said.
“It’s a lot of fun to hang out with friends and build robots,” Donovan said.
“The teamwork and the experience they get from competing together is very valuable,” Bennett said.