Students from Kenton High School competed at the National Robotics Challenge World Championship held at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Marion, Ohio on April 7-9, 2022. The National Robotics Challenge offered 11 different robotics/engineering challenges for the 2022 season. Kenton competed in Sumo and Additive Manufacturing.
Sam Chen and Simon Coffman competed in Sumo with their 15 pound autonomous sumo robot. The sumo robots use a variety of sensors to locate their opponent and then push them out of the sumo ring. Students construct and program their own robot for this competition.
Four Kenton teams competed in Additive Manufacturing. Team 1: Anlyn Carlson, Shawn Walter, and Tyler Howard; Team 2: Nate Compton, Drake Grant, and Caiden Risner; Team 3: Eyan Helton and Seth Nelson; Team 4: Trevor Wall, Mykel Thrush, Quinn Reffner, and Donald Dunn.
The Additive Manufacturing teams used an engineering design process to design and 3D print an object weighing 50 grams or less with a minimum diameter of 3 inches. The object was then tested under pressure with a hydraulic press. The object that had the best mass to weight bearing ratio was the winner. Students also created an engineering design journal and a video to document their design and manufacturing process. Team 4 (Trevor Wall, Mykel Thrush, Quinn Reffner, and Donald Dunn) took 5th place out of over 20 teams with their 30 gram design supporting over 700 pounds. This team was also nominated for a Honda Innovation Award for manufacturing the lightest object and creating an outstanding engineering design journal.