PantherBot advisor Chad Schau and a group of the C-S PantherBots work on the robot in between matches at the district robot competition at Battle Creek Lakeview March 6.
By Bruce Rolfe
The Climax-Scotts after school robotics team, known as the PantherBots, made a big splash in its very first competition at the district match at Battle Creek Lakeview March 6 and 7 by earning a fourth place finish and receiving the Rookie All Star Award.
“Performing as well as we did was an amazing feat that everyone worked so hard to achieve. The whole team stepped up to make it all happen. What a great start to an amazing adventure,” said C-S Robotics coach Chad Schau, who is assisted by Adam Audette.
The C-S FIRST Robotics Competition group designed, programmed and built an industrial-sized robot to compete.
The C-S group, made up of 15 students in grades 6 through 11, competed with approximately 40 other schools at the district competition.
The C-S robotics team were joined by two other schools and their robots as part of a three-team alliance competing against another three-team alliance from other schools.
There were 12 total qualifying rounds and Schau said the PantherBots went 6-for-6. That sent the local robotic team into the playoff rounds where they went 2-for-4. After the 12 qualifier matches, there is a selection process that allows the top teams to select their alliance partners. The PantherBots were selected by the 5th alliance captain (245 AtomBots from Rochester Hills). The alliance then made it to the semifinals with a 2-2 record, finishing fourth overall.
“I was so proud of the entire team, and grateful for the support, community support and parent support,” said Schau.
Schau hopes the fourth place finish and Rookie All-Star Award recognition at the group’s very first competition in its first year, will serve as a springboard moving forward.
“This first competition was great for everyone. I’m just so glad that all the students have this as an option now,” adds Schau.
C-S junior Aiden Klusman hopes after more students see how fun and successful the first year robotics program has been for the PantherBots, they will be inspired to get involved.
“I think us performing well during this, will help others see that we can be a good team and that we have potential so that other people will join our team,” said Klusman.
The PantherBots had emotions of curiousness and a little nervousness, but mostly an appetite to succeed, learn and have fun in their first competition.
“The first match, of the first competition of our first year was the biggest shake down ever. We’ve got all these different mechanisms, all these different features, all of these different kids adding all together to make sure that the robot is working right. And sometimes there’s bugs. Sometimes there’s issues. This is where they get exposed. And now we’ve got to adjust it and fix it and make it better for the next match,” said Schau.
The Climax-Scotts after school robotics team, known as the PantherBots, made a big splash in its very first competition at the district match at Battle Creek Lakeview March 6 and 7 by earning a fourth place finish and receiving the Rookie All Star Award.
“Performing as well as we did was an amazing feat that everyone worked so hard to achieve. The whole team stepped up to make it all happen. What a great start to an amazing adventure,” said C-S Robotics coach Chad Schau, who is assisted by Adam Audette.
The C-S FIRST Robotics Competition group designed, programmed and built an industrial-sized robot to compete.
The C-S group, made up of 15 students in grades 6 through 11, competed with approximately 40 other schools at the district competition.
The C-S robotics team were joined by two other schools and their robots as part of a three-team alliance competing against another three-team alliance from other schools.
There were 12 total qualifying rounds and Schau said the PantherBots went 6-for-6. That sent the local robotic team into the playoff rounds where they went 2-for-4. After the 12 qualifier matches, there is a selection process that allows the top teams to select their alliance partners. The PantherBots were selected by the 5th alliance captain (245 AtomBots from Rochester Hills). The alliance then made it to the semifinals with a 2-2 record, finishing fourth overall.
“I was so proud of the entire team, and grateful for the support, community support and parent support,” said Schau.
Schau hopes the fourth place finish and Rookie All-Star Award recognition at the group’s very first competition in its first year, will serve as a springboard moving forward.
“This first competition was great for everyone. I’m just so glad that all the students have this as an option now,” adds Schau.
C-S junior Aiden Klusman hopes after more students see how fun and successful the first year robotics program has been for the PantherBots, they will be inspired to get involved.
“I think us performing well during this, will help others see that we can be a good team and that we have potential so that other people will join our team,” said Klusman.
The PantherBots had emotions of curiousness and a little nervousness, but mostly an appetite to succeed, learn and have fun in their first competition.
“The first match, of the first competition of our first year was the biggest shake down ever. We’ve got all these different mechanisms, all these different features, all of these different kids adding all together to make sure that the robot is working right. And sometimes there’s bugs. Sometimes there’s issues. This is where they get exposed. And now we’ve got to adjust it and fix it and make it better for the next match,” said Schau.
PantherBot operators (left to right) eighth grader Jaxson Damm, junior Aiden Klusman and C-S Robotics advisor Chad Schau are pictured at the district competition at Battle Creek Lakeview March 6.
The first round served as an opportunity to evaluate where improvements can be made for the next round. And the same for each round after that.
“Whether it’s a driver correction, whether it’s a malfunction or some code or a part that broke or didn’t operate properly, you’ve got to take what we have. All that
information and try to assess it and make it better. It’s always about making it better,” explained Schau, who was joined by some of his team members working on the robot in a nearby pit area after the first match March 6.
Klusman, who joined eighth grader Jaxson Damm as robot operators at the competition, felt competing in the group’s very first match, at its first competition in its first year was a relief. But it also served as a building block for the future.
“Now that I know what it’s like and I have a feeling for it, I will be ready for the next one and I will know exactly what to do. I will know our exact game plan,” explained Klusman.
The objective is to have the robot deposit as many balls (called fuel) into a hopper (called a hub) as possible to score points, climb pull up bars and perform other tasks in a set amount of time to secure more points.
The team can also secure points by having members successfully throw balls (fuel) into the hub.
Klusman was pleased how the teams’ first competition went.
“The first match of the day, the first match ever, I think we did great. Our other teammates on our alliance, they did very well. We could have really used more points from our teammates but I think we did awesome all together, all around,” said Klusman.
Audette said he was encouraged how the team members performed and reacted trying to improve going into each match.
“They did great. Considering that we don’t have a true size field (to practice on). We only had two opportunities to get on one of those before this. We can’t truly have a simulated experience until we’re here at the competition due to the alliance aspect. What we saw there is we have to effectively work together with the teams that prepared with us. Getting the first competition out of the way was huge. I think everybody can take a big sigh of relief because we didn’t really know leading into it because this is new for all of us,” said Audette.
Audette said getting the first competition under their belts will not only help the team moving forward, but hopefully encourage others to get involved.
“It was a step hopefully for decades to come. Because this is going to be the way of the world. We’re moving towards an autonomous world. This is something that is not going to go away. It’s just cool to see the start of it, at the very beginning,” said Audette.
One part of the competition is autonomous. The team wrote code using java script, making the robots autonomous. The coding the group wrote instructs the robot to perform different maneuvers that score points. Once the team hits go, the robot does the rest of the work and hopefully completes each task to secure more points.
Schau said the teams’ autonomous mode didn’t start off well. There were problems with feeding and shooting accuracy, with the group making a small portion of their shots in the hopper.
But after continuously making adjustments, towards the end of the competition he said the group was 100 percent, making every shot, every time. “That was a huge contributor to being selected to compete in the Post matches,” explained Schau.
Another segment of the competition is the Teleop period where drivers control their robots.
Teleop is split into six segments - transition shift, four alliance shifts and the end game. During each shift the hubs are either active or inactive. Each fuel scored in an active hub is worth one point.
To start Teleop both hubs are active for a 10 second transition shift.
The Alliance that scores the most fuel in Auto will have their hub inactive for the 25 second duration of Alliance Shift one. The opposing Alliance Hub will be active during this time.
For the next shift the hub status will shift and the hub that was inactive will become active. The hubs will continue to alternate for Alliance shifts 3 and 4 as teams continue to collect fuel and score in its hub while its active.
The final part is the end game where both hubs are active for the final 30 seconds of the match.
Teams that score enough fuel in their hub to meet the energized threshold will earn a ranking point. Teams that score enough fuel in their hub to meet the supercharged threshold will earn an additional ranking point.
The Alliance that scores the most fuel in Auto will have their hub inactive for the 25 second duration of Alliance Shift one. The opposing Alliance Hub will be active during this time.
For the next shift the hub status will shift and the hub that was inactive will become active. The hubs will continue to alternate for Alliance shifts 3 and 4 as teams continue to collect fuel and score in its hub while its active.
The final part is the end game where both hubs are active for the final 30 seconds of the match.
Teams that score enough fuel in their hub to meet the energized threshold will earn a ranking point. Teams that score enough fuel in their hub to meet the supercharged threshold will earn an additional ranking point.
The Climax-Scotts PantherBot robot is pictured above shooting balls into the hopper during the district competition at Battle Creek Lakeview March 6.
Teams then return to climb their tower. A robot that can climb to level 1 will earn 10 points. A robot that can climb to level 2 will earn 20 points and a robot that can climb to level 3 will earn 30 points.
An Alliance that can earn enough tower points from robots climbing in either auto or teleop will earn a traversal ranking point. The Alliance that earns the most points overall wins the match.
The PantherBots will also compete in a second district competition at Columbia Central High School in Brooklyn, Michigan March 21 and 22.
The group will be hoping to qualify for the State Level. If the local robotics team qualifies for the State Level, that event will be held at Grand Valley State University against other qualifying teams for an opportunity to qualify for the World Event held in Houston, Texas.
An Alliance that can earn enough tower points from robots climbing in either auto or teleop will earn a traversal ranking point. The Alliance that earns the most points overall wins the match.
The PantherBots will also compete in a second district competition at Columbia Central High School in Brooklyn, Michigan March 21 and 22.
The group will be hoping to qualify for the State Level. If the local robotics team qualifies for the State Level, that event will be held at Grand Valley State University against other qualifying teams for an opportunity to qualify for the World Event held in Houston, Texas.
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