HSE Robotics Team is Building Up a Successful Year

Writer  /  Matt Keating
Photographer  / Brian Brosmer

Sara White, a senior at Hamilton Southeastern, has seen the future.

And it’s in Robotics.

White, co- team leader of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) High School Robotics Team, is participating in the engineering program at HSE. She and her classmates are competing in a national B.E.S.T. Robotics competition. They built their own robot for the contest.

“We competed in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Ohio and secured a spot in the regional championship in Fargo, North Dakota,” White says.

“Robots are the future,” White says. “Robots are able to complete blue and white-collar tasks more efficiently. They increase the efficiency of medical technology as they can perform more precise procedures, and they can detect diseases. Another example is facial recognition. This can revolutionize the police and criminal justice systems. We even see robotics in our own community every day as the garbage trucks drive down our streets with mechanical arms.”

White and the team were excited to compete in the regional championship Nov. 29-Dec.1 (results of which were not known at press).

“We were thrilled at our chance to move on to the regional championships,” White says. “At Bowling Green, Ohio, we won best computer-animated design and most photogenic robot. These awards strengthened the motivation of our team. In Fargo, we hope to not only continue this success but do even better.”

The team has different factions, including an Exhibit Team, that is fully responsible for designing, modeling, prototyping and building the robot. They designed and built their exhibit from the ground up.

There is also a Scout Team and Fundraising Team, a Spirit Team and Presentation Team, an Engineering Notebook Team and a Website Team.

The Spirit Team is in charge of the team’s video, banner, t-shirts and most importantly, cheering on the team at the competition. The Engineering Notebook (EN) Team created an Engineering Notebook, a document almost 60 pages long. It details every part of the project from start to finish.

White says that B.E.S.T. Robotics stands for Boosting Engineering Science and Technology.

“This competition simulates what it is actually like to work in the fields of engineering, science and technology,” White says. “Students work to be successful in different tasks such as marketing, building, designing, formal presentation and, most importantly, teamwork.”

Designing, constructing and testing a robot for the B.E.S.T. Robotics Competition presented many challenges, according to White.

“Students found it very difficult to manage their time effectively and manage material consumption, as the team operates on a limited budget, and we also encountered a few challenges while programming our robot for testing,” White says. “However, we overcame these issues as a team by applying the design process.”

The team also volunteered at an event held by one of their sponsors, The Indiana Transportation Museum. The team also volunteered at Hamilton Southeastern Elementary Schools Math and Science Nights.

“These events aim to expose children to the application of math and science principles through engineering,” White says. “We became involved in these events to help to promote engineering and hopefully inspire students to be involved in engineering as they reach high school. We also hope to reach more people, especially younger kids, in our district.”

White says a crucial part of the Robotics Team’s success is due to Joshua Gish, the teacher and mentor leading the program.

“Mr. Gish is also the sponsor and leader of the HSE Robotics Club, which helps to train students for this robotics competition by giving them similar simulations to the B.E.S.T. competition,” White says. “We are very excited about participating in B.E.S.T. and hope that we can make our school and community proud.”

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