In early December, the Shaker Heights Middle School robotics team traveled to Sheffield Lake to compete in the Brookside Holiday VEX IQ Ringmaster Qualifier. Eighth graders Katy Christian and Ben Schattinger---who have worked together as a robotics team since they were fifth grade students at Woodbury---took the overall Middle School Excellence Award and earned a spot at the state robotics competition in Marion on February 23.
But what’s more compelling than the recognition Katy and Ben have received in competition is their raw passion for robotics and their desire to take their own skills to the next level. Middle School design teacher and Robotics Team advisor Tracey Warren says their passion is catching. “Now our seventh graders are aspiring to be state competitors next year,” Ms. Warren explains. “It really is a pleasure to watch Katy and Ben. They really are go-getters who are intrinsically motivated.” Learn more about Katy and Ben in our IB in Action Q&A:
How did you both get started in robotics?
Katy: We both started out in summer camps at Great Lakes Science Center when we were younger. They had a lot of robotics camps and we both did those, so that’s where we were really introduced to the concept.
So how does this work with the two of you as a team?
Katy: This year, for example, the ringmaster was the set challenge, so your robot has to be able to pick up rings. So I’m the builder and Ben’s the programmer. But we didn’t want to build a robot from a kit because we want our designs to be original. So I fiddled around for a while to think of different ways to make our robot work. Then Ben came over and he programmed it and we just practiced with it every day.
Ben: What a lot of other teams do is build robots from instructions, but then their robot is just like all the others and the only thing they do really well is operate the joystick.
What do you like about building your own robot?
Katy: If you build robots from instructions, then you’re only going for points and you’re in a high stress competition situation. But when you’re going for design and you take the time to prepare, then you’re not so stressed out during the competition window.
How do you think this fits in with the IB Learner Profile?
Katy: I think it makes us stronger thinkers because that’s what this is all about. We have to think about how we’re going to design a robot and keep it together. And I have to think about how I’m going to implement what I have in my mind.
Ben: It’s also about being a good communicator. Because if the judges read your design journal and they think it’s good, then you’ve communicated well. And then when they interview you to ask questions about your robot, then you have to opportunity to show them that you really care about robotics. We have to be able to tell them how we built something and how we coded it.
What are your goals for the state competition?
Katy: We wanted to add a robotic arm to our next robot, so Ben coded it with a robotics framework called ROS that makes our robot easy to use. We really want to go above and beyond and show that we can do our own research and build our own robots.
And what are your goals for beyond High School?
Katy: We both want to go to MIT because we’re both just really passionate about robotics.