Alek Geissel, Andrew Merkel, Peyton Simmons and Craig Zeihmer are pictured working on the G-A Robotic Ram robot in the pit area before the second round of the district competition at Battle Creek Lakeview March 6.
(Photos by Bruce Rolfe)
By Bruce Rolfe
The Galesburg-Augusta Robotic Rams put weeks of building, problem solving, writing code and planning into action March 6 and 7 at the district robotics event at Battle Creek Lakeview High School.
The Robotic Rams are coached by Colin Whitman. Additional mentors include Chuck Whitman, Craig Zeihmer, Allison Lemons, Ashley Holdridge, Joey Foy, and Viren Mistry.
Colin Whitman said 10 high school students are on the team this year.
The Robotic Rams competed with approximately 40 other schools at the district competition.
The G-A robotics team was joined by two other schools and their robots as part of a three-team alliance competing against another three-team alliance from other schools.
Whitman said the G-A Robotic Rams finished in 29th place.
“With this being a week one competition and our first competition of the season there is always a learning curve to the game as well as some adjustments needed to refine our design and coding. Students were up to the task of rolling with the punches and making adjustments throughout the competition,” said Whitman.
G-A sophomore Andrew Merkle, who has been a part of the Ram Robotics team since he was a 7th grader, said he enjoys the entire process, from building the robot to competing against other schools.
“I’d say it’s pretty fun. Even if we lose, it was still pretty fun because we got to do everything and built the robot. Come out here, compete with everybody. It’s always pretty fun to see all the other robots too,” said Merkle.
Merkle said watching the robot he helped build operate on the main floor during a competition is rewarding. Making adjustments or minor repairs after each round in the pit area during the competition is something he enjoys as well.
“I think it’s really, really cool. That’s something that I worked on is working with everybody else, to try to win and score points. It’s really fun to see it (robot) actually work after we’ve spent all the time on it. Especially after previous years of not really having much (time) working on a robot at the start. I’m really happy to see it working,” adds the G-A sophomore.
Whitman said the emphasis has always been on having the students perform as much hands on work as possible with the mentors being present to help if needed.
“Adjustments to designs are discussed among the students and mentors and when a decision is reached we help them get it implemented to try,” explained Whitman.
Whitman said following the district competition the Robotic Rams had some discussions after arriving back to the group’s shop how the students felt the district competition went and what they may have experienced during the competition with their performance and other teams and what they may want to “try to implement or change on our design.”
The G-A advisor said the group has approximately three weeks until the group competes at Grand Valley State University for the second regular season competition, “so we will work on these changes and drive practice during our regular meeting schedule.”
Whitman said the group has been working on this year’s robot since the kick off event January 10th. He said the group worked around cancellations due to weather but completed a design phase, prototyping and final build and practice leading up to the Lakeview District competition.
The Galesburg-Augusta Robotic Rams put weeks of building, problem solving, writing code and planning into action March 6 and 7 at the district robotics event at Battle Creek Lakeview High School.
The Robotic Rams are coached by Colin Whitman. Additional mentors include Chuck Whitman, Craig Zeihmer, Allison Lemons, Ashley Holdridge, Joey Foy, and Viren Mistry.
Colin Whitman said 10 high school students are on the team this year.
The Robotic Rams competed with approximately 40 other schools at the district competition.
The G-A robotics team was joined by two other schools and their robots as part of a three-team alliance competing against another three-team alliance from other schools.
Whitman said the G-A Robotic Rams finished in 29th place.
“With this being a week one competition and our first competition of the season there is always a learning curve to the game as well as some adjustments needed to refine our design and coding. Students were up to the task of rolling with the punches and making adjustments throughout the competition,” said Whitman.
G-A sophomore Andrew Merkle, who has been a part of the Ram Robotics team since he was a 7th grader, said he enjoys the entire process, from building the robot to competing against other schools.
“I’d say it’s pretty fun. Even if we lose, it was still pretty fun because we got to do everything and built the robot. Come out here, compete with everybody. It’s always pretty fun to see all the other robots too,” said Merkle.
Merkle said watching the robot he helped build operate on the main floor during a competition is rewarding. Making adjustments or minor repairs after each round in the pit area during the competition is something he enjoys as well.
“I think it’s really, really cool. That’s something that I worked on is working with everybody else, to try to win and score points. It’s really fun to see it (robot) actually work after we’ve spent all the time on it. Especially after previous years of not really having much (time) working on a robot at the start. I’m really happy to see it working,” adds the G-A sophomore.
Whitman said the emphasis has always been on having the students perform as much hands on work as possible with the mentors being present to help if needed.
“Adjustments to designs are discussed among the students and mentors and when a decision is reached we help them get it implemented to try,” explained Whitman.
Whitman said following the district competition the Robotic Rams had some discussions after arriving back to the group’s shop how the students felt the district competition went and what they may have experienced during the competition with their performance and other teams and what they may want to “try to implement or change on our design.”
The G-A advisor said the group has approximately three weeks until the group competes at Grand Valley State University for the second regular season competition, “so we will work on these changes and drive practice during our regular meeting schedule.”
Whitman said the group has been working on this year’s robot since the kick off event January 10th. He said the group worked around cancellations due to weather but completed a design phase, prototyping and final build and practice leading up to the Lakeview District competition.
The Galesburg-Augusta Robotic Rams put weeks of building, problem solving, writing code and planning into action March 6 and 7 at the district robotics event at Battle Creek Lakeview High School.
Whitman adds this is the second season in the new shop that was constructed as part of a bond passed by G-A Community Schools voters. He said the new shop has allowed the Ram Robotics to build a full half field for practice as well as have sizable shop space for the actual robot build.
At the district competition 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.Â
One part of the competition is auto. The team has written 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.
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 it’s 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.
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.
At the district competition 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.Â
One part of the competition is auto. The team has written 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.
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 it’s 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.
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.
This is the 10th season for the Robotic Rams, which started in 2015.. The group started in 2015 and did not participate in 2021 when the program was done online during Covid.
Whitman said G-A had 15 students participate in the middle school program last fall for a second season.
This is the 10th season for the Robotic Rams, which started in 2015.. The group started in 2015 and did not participate in 2021 when the program was done online during Covid.
Whitman said G-A had 15 students participate in the middle school program last fall for a second season.
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