Western Pennsylvania high school students gather at RMU for 'Battle Bots' competition
MOON TOWNSHIP (KDKA) - Wednesday, a unique high school competition is underway at Robert Morris University. Several area high schools are taking their robots and having them battle it out in a competition that mixes science and fun.
So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, start your battle robot engines!
More than 500 students from 45 high schools were on hand to show off their 15-pound battle robots.
All of the "battle bots" are made and perfected by these students as well as Michel Conklin, the executive director of BotsIQ. He said this is a great opportunity for students to work, learn, and grow in the field of robotics, a field that is becoming more and more prevalent in the country's workforce.
"We partner every school with a local manufacturing company so that they can see the skills that they are gaining through programs like ours are the skills that the industry is looking for," he said. "There are careers that they can go into that pay family-sustaining wages and that provide for great futures for them in manufacturing."
Abbie Spinner is a senior at Freeport High School and she said she fell in love with building robots last year.
At the time, she was the only girl on the Freeport robotics team and now she's been able to recruit an entire team of girls: "The Pink Ladies."
"The Pink Ladies are comprised of four seniors and one sophomore," she explained. "We are hoping our sophomore stays and keeps the tradition going. We don't know why we picked 'The Pink Ladies,' but we were watching Grease and we said, 'Hey, this could be fun.' Our bot's name is actually, 'Grease Lighting' to go along with the theme."
Spinner said that she recently enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and would be open to working in robotics with some of America's best.
Many who gathered at the event seemed excited by what their robotics futures could hold but most were just hopeful that their robot would survive the preliminary round and make it to the finals at the end of April.
Win or lose, these students all manufactured fun.