Alpena High School robotics team sees successful year, looks to future of program | News, Sports, Jobs

“I think this year was a great year for learning and building the team bigger for next year,” robotics team member Christian Shunk said. “We are preparing to achieve greater goals.”

According to AHS robotics team coach John Caplis, at the beginning of each year, the robotics team receives the rules for a game and the team needs to construct a robot to fulfill a number of objectives related to the game.

This year’s game was titled Crescendo and required robots to shoot music notes into speakers or deliver them to amplifiers, creating a dynamic and strategic competition. Teams formed alliances, with three robots per side, to maximize their scores by amplifying speakers and scoring points in various ways. Despite challenges, Alpena’s team adapted and thrived.

One of the major advancements for the team this year was the introduction of a swerve drive system, replacing the traditional tank drive. This upgrade, funded by generous grants from the Alpena County Youth and Recreation fund and the Northeast Michigan Community Foundation’s Youth Advisory Council, significantly improved the robot’s maneuverability.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi
From left to right, Alpena High School Robotics team members Maddox Chabot, Liam Kieliszewski, Jack Caplis, Christian Shunk, Alison Borowski, Josephine Harrison, Evan McDonald, and coach John Caplis are seen with their robot from this year’s competition.

“We moved from tank drive to swerve drive this year,” team member Jack Caplis said. “For swerve drive, each wheel can rotate itself independently like a shopping cart. We switched to that this year and it was an incredible learning opportunity for us.”

Building robots involves a meticulous process starting with brainstorming and designing using computer-aided design, followed by assembly and programming.

In addition to the mechanics and programming side, another important element of the robotics team is its business and financial side which is responsible for obtaining the necessary funding for the robotics team to compete at different levels as well as keeping the public informed on the progress of the team through social media.

“Media is very important because it gets our name out there,” team member Alison Borowski said. “We show the community what we’re doing and be able to showcase what they’re putting their money towards.”

“We depend on fundraising sponsors and donors,” Caplis said. “So media brings the community along with us.”

Courtesy Photo From left to right, Chris Boyk (lead mentor), Sam Cook, Jess Stepaniak, and Liam Kieliszewski are seen at the pit crew with their robot. Team 5505 makes repairs to their robot after a match at the first event in Lake City in March. After every match, the pit crew completes a checklist to prepare the robot for the next match and to resolve any issues.

The robotics team improved on scouting elements this year which involves members of the team checking out other teams at competitions and seeing which teams could make viable partners at later points in the competition.

“When you go to competitions you’re working in an alliance,” Caplis said. “If you perform well, when you get to the end of the competition you get to select your alliances, so you need to know what other robots can do.”

While the team just missed out on making it to the World Competition, Caplis said he is still proud of what the team had managed to accomplish this season with a relatively fresh team.

“We had a great season, winning our second competition at Central Michigan University and making it to the state championships,” Caplis said. “Although we faced challenges at states and missed going to Worlds by just two spots, our performance was a significant achievement.”

One of the biggest takeaways that members of the robotics team shared was how unique and involved it was in the skills that it offered them.

“It’s a great learning experience if you’re interested in any type of engineering field, business included as well,” team member Maddox Chabot said. “It’s just a great way to learn and be extremely hands-on.”