HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-04-13, Page 28PAGE 28. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017.
Madill robotics team turning heads in rookie year
Rookies of the year
In its first season, the F.E. Madill Robotics Club, the Iron Stallions, have earned several
accolades marking them as a promising rookie team. Shown above with their robot AutoMac
at a previous competition in Waterloo are, from left, Cameron Snow, Jacob Peel, Duncan
Cameron, Caleb Petersen, Mr. Bartman, Mrs. McGavin and Justine Clark. Absent is Lewis
Godfrey. (Photo submitted)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
The robotics club at F.E. Madill
School is turning a lot of heads in its
rookie year.
Called the Iron Stallions, for the
school's first initials (FE, the
periodic symbol for iron) and its
sports team, the Mustangs, the club
is in 32nd place out of 160 teams
across the province which teacher
Shannon McGavin says is
impressive for a rookie squad.
"They're calling us 'the little robot
that could'," she said with a laugh.
"At our first event we won the
Rookie Award and the Judge's
Award, and at our second
competition we won the Rookie
Inspiration Award."
Robotic competitions are held
through the non-profit organization
FIRST (For Inspiration and
Recognition of Science and
Technology).
On Wednesday the club went to
the provincial competition in
Mississauga with their robot,
AutoMac, also known as FRC
(FIRST Robotics Competition)
6461.
The robot was named for two of
the large contributors to the club,
D&D Automation and McGavin
Farm Equipment.
The robot should, according to
club members, be able to put a gear
on a peg attached to an airship,
climb a rope and load balls into a
hopper, however the team decided
not to be involved in the latter
exercise.
"The ball project isn't worth the
points that are achieved through it,"
Troy Walter said. "Many of the
One tough problem
The F.E. Madill Robotics Club, the Iron Stallions, travelled to
Mississauga on Wednesday to compete at the provincial
FIRST Robotics competition with its creation AutoMac.
Members of the club explained that they are still refining
their bot, but they can't do any hands-on work until they
arrive at the site as, between competitions, it has to remain
under wraps. Above, the club debates some possible
changes to AutoMac. From left: Jeff Gordon, Troy Walter,
Duncan Cameron, Caleb Petersen, Mr. Bartman and
Justine Clark. (Denny Scott photo)
experienced teams didn't participate
in that part"
Walter, alongside fellow club
member Duncan Cameron,
explained that the team had to
rebuild their robot from the ground
up prior to its first competition at the
University of Western Ontario.
Until earlier this week, the team
was still making plans for the robot,
however, after that first competition,
the robot must remain under wraps
and can only be worked on prior to
the events.
During their lunch breaks, team
members gather around the robot,
under a clear plastic wrap, and plan
how they are going to address
problems they ran into at the
competitions.
It's a challenge, however, as they
have to go from diagrams and
measurements they can get without
unwrapping the robot, making
brainstorming and teamwork even
more of a necessity.
Justine Clark, a Grade 8 student
who is a member of the club, has
taken on some of the financial and
planning aspects of the club.
"We needed $5,000 per
competition and it's gone O.K. so
far," she said. "This is our first year,
100 per cent
so we weren't
prepared"
Clark explained the group plans to
go to this year's International
Plowing Match in Walton in
September in hopes of spreading the
word about the club and generating
more funds for the club.
She joined the club hoping to
learn about programming and has
had some brushes with it, but she
said she has a lot of fun with the
business practices.
"The networking and meeting
people have really been fun," she
said.
McGavin said the team is learning
as it goes for its first year, having
raised $10,000 for its first two
competitions and looking for the
remaining approximately $3,250 for
this competition.
She said the group is looking for
support from the community, both
financially as well as anyone who
has time to mentor the member of
the club.
"We're looking for anyone who
can help out," she said. "We can use
expertise from financial institutions
to business people and of course
from engineers and manufacturing
companies."
To support the organization, visit
www.c an adahelps .org/dn/30526
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