CVCA took four teams to the AWT Robobots and Junior Bots competition at Lakeland Community College. They experienced the outstanding battle, rebuild, rewire, and battle again process, leading to a first-place win by our Junior Bot Cookie Crumbler team and a fourth-place win by our High School ChopStyx team. 

Starting in January, the students in grades 6-12 began designing their robots in CAD and spent 2-3 months perfecting their designs. Parts were 3D printed and cut on a water jet machine. Students hand made even more parts necessary to construct the seven robots and spare parts needed for competition. Meticulous cataloging of parts and the design and build process were included in engineering notebooks written by senior Faith Pander. The high school students were also required to present their designs in a presentation to industry leaders at Lakeland. Junior Alex Cook, Junior Elisabeth Govia and Freshman Daniel Kolodey earned first place for their presentation which was also written by Senior Faith Pander. 

The first CVCA team to compete included a pair of wedge bots named Romulus and Remus, driven by Seniors Nathan Heidinger and Aiden Jenison. Next, Chop and Styx entered the cage and introduced a new design concept to the competition. Both high school teams did very well and ChopStyx achieved 4th place. Royals Technic’s 6th, 7th, and 8th graders designed and built three robots. The first, Cookie Crumbler achieved a first-place win. Expertly driven by 7th grader Matthew Kolodey, it remained undefeated until its final match and had to fight the same robot twice to bring a trophy home. The second robot pair, Pain and Suffering was driven by 7th grader Camden Boggs and 8th grader Cayla Tan. 

The day was a great success, and all of the students were able to show what they had worked so hard to design. Congratulations to all who competed!