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Champion High's robotics team, shows kids how to operate BOTs
WARREN
The smiles and excitement grew as children as young as 5 and teenagers took their turns operating robotic machines at the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library on Saturday.
The robots, one that shoots balls about the size of a soccer ball and spins rapidly in place and another that collects and stacks storage tubs, were built by Champion High School’s robotics team, The Lightning Bots.
Rachael Reeves, 7, brought to the event by her father, Lawrence Reeves of Warren, said she “liked the robot that goes the fastest.”
“It’s a great thing to expose her to something like this. It gets her out from in front of the television,” Reeves said of his daughter.
“It was pretty cool,” said Leanna Batchelder, an eighth-grader in the McDonald Local School District. Her sister, Allison, 11, “liked stacking the containers.” The girls were accompanied by their parents, Jamie and Michael Batchelder.
“It is an awesome program that teaches high school students life skills, such as team-building and working together, in addition to technical skills through mentoring and coaching by adults, paid and volunteer, and older students,” said Barbara Hummel, who has been a program advisor since its inception 11 years ago.
Her son, Alex Hummel, also a team adviser, was a member of The Lightning Bots from 2008 to 2011, earned a bachelor of science degree in digital science from Kent State University and is employed in the Warren-Trumbull Library’s information technology department.
The Lightning BOTS really is a STEM program, said Barbara Hummel, a chemical engineer who formerly worked at Delphi Packard.
The robotics team is run like a small business.
Team members are exposed to all the organizational skills needed to run a small business. Some are involved in the financial aspects, some perform public relations and marketing tasks, write grant requests, and organize fundraising events, in addition to working with hand tools, machine tools and computer-assisted designing, Barbara Hummel said.
Other team advisers are Samantha Young, a senior at KSU and alumnus of The Champion Bots; and Mark McCall of Hubbard, a Delphi-Packard engineer. There are also seven volunteer advisers, several of whom are team alumni.
Champion High School senior Mark DeAngelis is the main team captain, and Cole Engle, a junior, is the electrical team captain.
“Primarily, I oversee what the 25 team members are doing and make sure everything is going smoothly and relay information to the team,” said DeAngelis.
Jan. 7 was the kick-off date for this season, and the team has six weeks to build a robot that represents the theme of “Steamworks.”
The first week has been devoted to developing a strategy, said James Carsone, a freshman, who said he joined the team because a lot of his friends were joining.
James said the mentors and upper classmen have been doing a great job “teaching the new members what we need to know. It’s a great choice. I like it a lot.”
The Lightning Bots has competitions coming up in a few weeks: The Rocket City Regional in Huntsville, Ala., March 23-25, and the Buckeye Regional at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center on March 30-April 1.
To learn more about The Lightning Bots, visit its website at CHS-Robotics.org.