Diagonal HotSpots robotics team compete at state

Six students from Diagonal Community School competed at the 2018-19 Iowa FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) State Championships this weekend in Coralville – a first in the school’s history.

Since October, high school students, Kerrigan Mobley, Erin Sobotka, Skyler Stamps, Kade Klommhaus, Calli Herr and Bailey Taylor have been learning about robotics. With the guidance of Diagonal Science Instructor Taylor Bentley and robotics coach Manas Mahaddalkar – an 2018 ISU graduate and employee of Excel Engineering in Diagonal – the Diagonal HotSpots have learned, through trial and error, how to built a small “Rover” vehicle.

“They are basically like rovers on the moon,” said Bentley.

Bentley said the vehicle had to be able to dismount into a small arena during competition, remain mobile and have the ability to collect small items from the arena floor.

Before competing as one of the 48 teams that made it to state this weekend, the Diagonal HotSpots competed in three local meets, where team members studied what worked for their robot and what did not. Based on feedback, the students problem solved ways to enhance the features of the rover.

“Our robot has changed immensely from beginning to end. We’ve added a lot of things,” said Bentley.

Bentley said the first rover the students built had wheels that only allowed it to go forward or backward and received second place during the club’s first match in Villisca.

“Which was awesome, because we went in not knowing how the matches work. We had never been to one,” said Bentley.

Over the season, the students added additional motors, for a total of three, which allowed it to have a robotic arm with a spinning mechanism, and the ability to move forward, backward and side-to-side.

Bentley said Herr has become very good at programming, which allows the rover to operate for a short time on its own, based on the instructions she, and her teammates, write.

During the competition, there is also a period where Klommhaus and Stamps could control the rover using a video-game style remote via Wi-Fi.

“These kids have learned to build, learned to take care of each other, they’ve learned to program,” said Bentley.

Bentley said she has been most amazed by the students as they balance their commitment to the robotics team with their other commitments.

“These are kids from Diagonal, so they are in everything,” said Bentley.

As of Thursday, the Diagonal HotSpots had worked on their rover for approximately 270 hours, and continued to do so until the last possible moment. After a last-minute judgment call by the team, they dismantled the robot’s arm the evening before competition and decided to go back to an original design they had worked on.

Bentley said the program helps students learn skills they will need in the real world. As part of the competition this weekend, the students were interviewed and had to answer questions about their robot, discuss their design with a panel of judges, and talk about fundraising, outreach and acquiring sponsorship.

Excel Engineering is the club’s sponsor, which Bentley said is a “Godsend,” as fundraising in a town of nearly 300 residents can be very challenging.

Bentley was hesitant to start a robotics club in Diagonal at first, but she said it was one of the best programs for her students and an great experience to be a part of.

“They are my second family. They have really shown me that they are dedicated and persistent. They work through basketball schedules, work schedules, family ... and they continue to work as a team,” said Bently. “I saw that they can constructively criticize each other, but still love each other the next day. That’s a hard human skill to have. It’s really awesome to see them put their minds together and work and see the different things they come up with is amazing.”