A rural robotic renaissance, Union’s Robocats team brings students together
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, March 27th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION – It’s a common belief that robots are cool. It’s also a common fact that robots are incredibly complicated. Combining the engineering principles of actual robotic design with the inherent fun factor of remote-controlled robots seems like it would be the perfect learning experience for any youth interested in robotics or related fields. The Union School district seems to agree, hence why they’ve hosted their own robotics team for the past 13 years.
Union’s Team, the aptly named Robocats, was established in 2011 by Nod Palmer. The 3,712th team to join the First Robotics Competition (FRC), the Robocats currently comprise around 27 members from both junior high and high school levels. The team are taught by John Townsend (teacher of Shop, Geometry in Construction, and Robotics) and mentored by Darren Ward. Originally set up in the school’s wood and metal shop classrooms, the district completed construction of a dedicated robotics and geometry building last year to host the program.
Each year, students focus on a mix of general robotics projects, along with construction and testing of their own unique robot. What that robot ends up looking like depends partially on the game parameters set by the FRC for each year’s competition, while the rest is up to the students. As described by senior and team Captain, Noah:
“So, every year they give us the game and a rulebook, and the rulebook says, like, ‘don’t put a giant saw blade on the front of your robot,’ because you’re not trying to hurt each other, you’re trying to outscore your opponent and be faster.” (As an aside, yes, Elkhorn Media Group did ask if the team ever got to make battle bots. Unfortunately, the answer is no.)
This year, The Robocat’s robot (right two images) is specifically designed to launch foam rings into a bucket as part of a competition called Crescendo. The bot itself is controlled by two students: Noah, who controls the launcher, along with sophomore and builder Wyatt McCane, who steers the robot’s mobile base. Beyond the competition drivers, all students are heavily involved in building the robot and supporting the team. Parts for the bot are largely ordered in, though some components are 3D-printed in house. Leading up to the competition, students also build their own practice field to test and troubleshoot the bot. That said, it seems the team got it right early on. According to 7th grader Todd Batten:
“This is pretty much the only week where we haven’t had anything to do on it, because everything’s fine. There hasn’t really been anything else to do because our robot’s just solid!”
As for competitions, the various district teams are grouped together to form larger alliances of 3 teams each. Not only do they share an overall score in the given game, but the teams are encouraged to step in and help each other if something goes wrong. As described by Noah:
“It’s like, oh, they don’t have a piece, or they broke something, and you have another one of whatever they broke. You let them use that, or you offer input. One year we had a lot of programming issues, and another team came up and was like, ‘hey, what’s going on?’”
In terms of performance, the Robocats and their alliance came in second place at the recent FRC District event. The team also came in first place during the prior district competition. As of March 18, the team were ranked 11th of 127th in the Pacific Northwest Region, qualifying them for the Upcoming District Championships in Portland, April 3rd.
That said, while competition gives the team a purpose, and is undoubtedly fun to participate in, it’s not the only draw. When interviewed, every student EMG spoke to mentioned some of their favorite or most memorable moments simply involved spending time with the team, working together on the robot, or experiencing new things when traveling for competitions. As described by 7th grader Kathleen, (a member of the team’s media and marketing group):
“A lot of the team members like to just hang out. We also are a great team. We’re pretty good at working together. Like, on the robot, if something’s wrong, somebody else will come up and help if they know it better.”
When asked what he was most looking forward to, senior Caleb Houston, who described his own role on the team as “positivity,” said:
“Something I’m looking forward to is that when this carries on, you know. Like, the young kids that are in here right now will build up and they’ll be able to take over this program someday and make this even bigger and better.
And the Robocats certainly have bigger and better things in store. Throughout its 13 years, the current iteration of the Union robotics team is the largest and most well-funded it’s ever been. Bouncing back from a time when it seemed like the program would shut down, students are having fun, robots are being built, and memories are being made. As described summerized by Noah:
“I’m looking forward to this team doing well in the future. It was not looking too great for a couple years. It was just three or four kids for a few years, and it was pretty rough. It was like, ‘oh, is this program going to keep going?’ And then Mr. Townsend joined, and Darren joined, there’s a lot more mentors, and there’s a lot more kids involved because now it’s a class. It’s not just like an after-school club, and so the program’s future is looking a lot better!”
Updates on the Robocats can be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/3712robocats. A website for the team may also be in the works.
