Straughn High School Robotics Club moves to regionals following “BEST” performance

Straughn High School’s Robotics Club was one of the 16 schools that competed in this year’s BEST (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology) Robotics event on Oct. 21.

Straughn is one of the few high schools in Covington County that has the robotics team. Coach of the robotics team Stephen Bowen described the program as multi-faceted, with a range of roles to play.

“I cannot be more proud of our robotics team this year with the most outstanding performance. They’ve put in so much effort and time to make it the very best team that it could be. Many people believe that it’s just about building the robot, however there’s a lot more to it. We compete in two competitions. The BEST competition is currently in progress as well as it will be the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) competition that will be held in the spring. The robotics program requires all kinds of students to succeed,” Bowen said.

The team presents an expo for marketing at the BEST competition. the robot and the team are presented as the sales team. The team has an engineering notebook as well as an interview and booth at the end of event that highlights the values of the team and their growth process throughout the course of. Robotics competitions are also organized in addition to the sporting spirit and sportsmanship. It is judged by the students who lead the team and providing support to the other teams that are involved.

Bowen explained that the school started its robotics team a few years ago but didn’t participate until three years later.

“We began with the BEST competitions in 2020, and we had a virtual contest the first year due to the pandemic. We learned a lot but it was an opportunity to start over in 2021, when we returned to a live competition. We have participated in BEST each year since then, while also we added the first competition in 2022. We’re looking forward to our second season in the coming year.”

Ashton Teel leads the team’s engineering notebook, and Emily Byrd oversees Straughn’s booth design.

“Ashton is the one who has led our notebook for the past three seasons, making the majority of our total. Emily is extremely passionate about artistic endeavors and a phenomenal artist. She’s not involved as much in the robot design, but she is an integral member of the team, displaying her talents. The FIRST competition that takes place in Spring is more extensive with more than thousands of teams from around across the world participating. We had the opportunity be a part of teams representing Brazil and Mexico this year and the diversity of cultures had an impact on pupils,” he said.

The themes are selected every year in accordance with a present need in the industry. The theme for the fall of 2023 was chosen by Troy University was “Incision Decision.”

“The design process is focused on making use of the materials we have available to be in line with the theme of every year. It’s a new game every season, and we must start from scratch each period. We consider the goals we’d like to accomplish and then design our components and test them, and finally, we create the final product. There are many errors and we learn from each one.”

Students must satisfy certain criteria for every competition. For the BEST competition, they can only utilize the materials they are given. The robot should fit into the size of a box that is 2’x’2’x2′ and cannot exceed 24 pounds. In FIRST Robotics the robot has to be able to span a total at 120 inches. It must not weigh more than 125 pounds with batteries, and be at an maximum starting height at 58.

According to Bowen that the game is different every season, which influences the design process of the team.

“We concentrate on the physical constraints we face to maximize scoring in the game. We have only 3 minutes for each round, and we do our the best time to score as many points as we can. The first round is two minutes, 45 seconds long, for the initial 15 second period, it is completely autonomous only. BEST gives us a set of components. We are limited to using the materials they supply with a little flexibility with four customized parts. FIRST Robotics does have some limitations however, for the most part, we’re allowed to utilize any material that we acquire, and also receive assistance from anyone with ideas. FIRST is more focused on exchange of thoughts and working with professionals, whereas BEST focuses on students who are taking on the tasks themselves. The two events each year offers a wealth of opportunities for teams to gain knowledge from,” he said.

The team members are present during class time and for at least 10 hours a week, after school. After school, this time is dedicated to working to improve the machine.

“Both contests are scheduled to starting and an end date, which is why we’re always trying to make sure our robot is ready for competition times. Each minute we spend working together is an incredible learning experience for students and helps them build their critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills at every meeting.”

The 2023-2024 team members are William Baxley, Emily Byrd, Will Cowan, Jared Gay, Guy Infield, Catherine Kime, Christian Kime, John Miller, Charlie Philpott, Ashton Teel, Gabe Jones, Kellen Dumont as well as Jaina Hatcher.

Gay and Baxley have been part of the team of roboticists for three years.

“I am very happy with the new friendships I’ve made with the robotics team, and am eager to win the next contest,” Gay said. “I am enjoying the problem-solving component of it, and am looking to hearing the results of interviews in the next competition.” Baxley added.

Christian Kime and Byrd first joined the robotics team a couple of years ago.

“My favourite thing about being part of this group is that it’s a co-operative environment. The team members enjoy the chance to experiment with different parts that we create, as well as enhance those models repeatedly. I love the excursions we take and feeling the sense of having achieved success as an individual. I would like to see us take every flaw we have from our Troy BEST Robotics competition and fix them in order to be an even better team,” Kime said.

“My most favorite part about robotics is brainstorming concepts and designing the most effective robotics display. I’m very imaginative and draw constantly. I am looking forward to our next contest, and that they’ve got one of the categories focused on creativity is interesting,” Byrd said.

Straughn is now focusing at its regional BEST Robotics contest on December. 3 through 4 on the University of North Alabama in Florence.

“With the assistance by (Superintendent) the Mr. (Shannon) Driver, (SHS Principal) Mr. (Matt) Cobb and a handful of businesses around Andalusia and Andalusia, we’ve been able to pay for our costs for the South’s best Regional event. But we are in need of sponsors for FIRST Robotics, we’re always seeking more sponsors, either financially or in a role of mentors,” Bowen said.

For more information email [email protected] or call the Straughn High School office at 334-222-2511.

The article Straughn High School Robotics Club moves to regionals following the ‘best’ performance was first published in The Andalusia Star-News.