May 28, 2018 -- The Heights High Robotics team sent 25 students in two groups to the May 18-19 national competition at the California University of Pennsylvania. The team entered two Battle Bots and placed 5th and 13th. Seventy teams attended the competition, including 10 college teams.

 

 

See the student produced video about the Robotics Team.

Each Battle Bot team designed and built a 15 pound remote controlled robotic devices to face off against other bots in a plexiglass battle cage. The bots feature a fast spinning weapon and protective armour. 

The Heights High team came off a big win at the regional competition, they entered tow Bot teams and won first and second place.

“After regionals, we made several improvements, mainly to help our durability,” said Mr. Nachman, the team’s coach. “As a result, we sustained very little damage at nationals.”

After competing for four years, the team has developed strong technical skills and team work that paid off this year. “I was so proud of how the students worked together to prepare the bot after each match,” he continued.

 The two Heights High Battle Bots.

“It was like two precision NASCAR pit crews working on the robots.”

Mr. Nachman is also the school’s engineering teacher and is looking forward to even more improvements next year. “We will have a three axis mill as part of our Project Lead the Way engineering class and that will allow us to make several pieces in-house,” he said. “The students on the Robotics team will apply the skills they learn in class.”  

Three industry sponsors provided important technical expertise and material support for the team, often serving as teachers and mentors to the students.

“We are so grateful to our industry sponsors,” continued Mr. Nachman. “We absolutely could not so this without them.”

The sponsors are Cleveland Heights based Nottingham Spirk, team members helped the students with design, engineering and also manufactured parts; manufacturing companies Talan Products and Dunham Products helped the students with design and manufacturing.

 

Student Team Members:
Black Team, placed 5th: Jaden Bellar, William Benham, James Birdsell, Patrick Dooner, Alex Grim, Gabriel Gosselin, Kihyale Hayes, Daymonique Judge, River Meesig, Sam Mitchell, William Rosenberg and Ramon Wimbley.

Gold Team, placed 13th: Graeme Alcorn, Lawrence Amerson, Ryan Andrews, Jaylen Bellar, Shawn Crawford, Henry French, Grant Gober, Jazzy Gold, Greyton Manne, Eric McCallum, Macy Smith, Emma Vail and Niroshun Weerakkody.

The Industry Support Team:
Pete Accorti, Talan Products, owner
Jim Szpak, Nottingham Spirk, lead engineer
Nate Moore, Talan, engineer
Miguel Lugo, Talan, engineer
Brandi Brandewie, Nottingham Spirk, documentation
Lindsey Tufts, Nottingham Spirk
Chris Fuchs, Nottingham Spirk, create parts
Don Fuchs, create parts
Shawn Dellinger, Nottingham Spirk, engineer
Tom Camiola, Talan, create parts
Joe Klukan, Dunham Products, President
Jennifer Bailey, Dunham, coordinator
Nick Mann, Dunham, create parts
Allen Wilkenson, retired NASA researcher
Lindsey Tufts, Nottingham Spirk, industrial design
Matthew Cassidy, engineer volunteer  
Desmond Leonard, alumnus, coach

The national competition is sponsored by the National Robotics League, a manufacturing workforce development program of the National Tooling & Machining Association.