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Gateway to Technology students from North Union Middle School earn Honda Innovation Award

MARION, Ohio -- An innovative remote-controlled roto-tiller earned the top innovation prize at the 2009 National Robotics Challenge, where more than 280 robots competed in a variety of robotic events.

Students Riley Hall and Cody Howell from North Union Middle School in Richwood, Ohio, designed and built the robotic tiller to help take the physical strain out of gardening.  The tiller is lightweight, easy to operate and agile enough to work between rows and even between individual plants.

Different from many of the other competitions that focus on a functional robot, the Honda Innovation Award recognizes teams that demonstrate a unique solution.  Nominations for the award came from each of the 13 event categories at the National Robotics Challenge held April 17-18.

“We told the judges that we didn’t want them to automatically nominate the winner in their category,” said Tad Douce, director of the robotic challenge events.  “We really were looking for teams that are thinking out of the box, and this team went well beyond that with their project.”

The North Union students entered their remote-controlled tiller in the Robot Construction event, where students select a task and then design, build and demonstrate their robotic solution.  Their Gateway to Technology teacher, Kristi Matlack, was justly proud of their accomplishment.  “I must say...as their teacher, I am so proud of them, she said.  “They have worked so hard and I think this has really been a life changing event for them.  One of them told me just the other day that when he started my GTT class as a 7th grader, he had no interest in engineering and only wanted to be a farmer some day.  Now he wants to be an engineer and is already looking at engineering schools.”  I guess I better get busy on the COSI application to add that to the list, as well as keep this in mind next fall when you are looking for student displays for the state PLTW conference.

In recognition for their achievement, the team received $500.00 for their middle school and a trophy presented by Makoto Makino, president of Honda Engineering North America, based in Marysville, Ohio. The team also earned the Gold Award in their category and a ROBIX robotics kit valued at over $500.00 from robix.com for their school.
Additionally, though it is still in the planning stages, the school could be going "on tour" this summer with a possible display at the Ohio State Fair, and they have also been invited to John Deere in Moline, Illinois for a visit to their robotics department. 

“All of the participants have shown a great deal of dedication and creativity,” Makino said.  “That is why we are so pleased to be involved with the Robotics Challenge, because these activities promote innovative thinking that has a positive impact on the products and technology of tomorrow.”
Toledo Technology Academy, another Ohio PLTW program, was also nominated for the Innovation Award for their  Manufacturing Robotic Work Cell entry. More than 50 teams from eight states participated in the 2009 events for students in elementary school through upper university levels of competition.

“The focus of these events is on creating excitement for students in the field of engineering,” Douce said.  “It is great to see teams come back each year to increase their robotic capabilities.”  This is the first year that North Union Middle School students have competed in the National Robotics Challenge. 

Both students are in the eighth grade and are students in the Gateway To Technology (GTT) class at North Union, the middle school pre-engineering class for Project Lead the Way®.  They both also participate in an after school Technology Club, where they spent much of their time preparing for the competition.  In addition to the robotic tiller that they built and entered in the Robot Construction event, both Cody and Riley were also part of a team that earned the Silver Award in the Manufacturing Model contest at the National Robotics Challenge. They used Fischertechniks and the RoboPro software to design, construct, and operate a model of a manufacturing system that performs several manufacturing processes.
 
North Union GTT teacher and club advisor, Kristi Matlack, commends the students for their achievements.  “This has been a very positive experience for our students.  I believe they have all learned that with hard work and dedication, they can learn and achieve great things.  I am very proud of our students for thinking and acting outside of the box.”

North Union GTT students Riley Howell and Cody Howell and their teacher Ms. Matlack display the $500 check they won for their school.