Students work together to build better mousetrap, er, robot
By Brian Flinchpaugh

Some Hazelwood Central High School students found that building robots can foster an interest in technology and teamwork, and it also can be fun.

"I've always liked engineering and stuff, but this really caused me to get interested in it as a career," said senior Lindsay Wendel, 18.

Wendel is the captain of the Hazelwood Central Robohawks, a group of more than 30 students who will compete at a national championship April 12-14 in Atlanta.

In the club's first year of competition, the Robohawks made the semifinals in a regional competition in St. Charles and at Purdue University this month.

The Robohawks received the Rookie All-Star Award from the 2007 FIRST St. Louis Regional Robotics Competition at the St. Charles Family Arena in early March. They placed sixth out of 45 schools from across the nation.

At the Boilermaker Regional on March 15-17, the club won the Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology Award."

Wendel also received an $8,000 scholarship to Purdue University.

"I think our success on the whole is due to a lot of people doing a lot of things," she said.

High school teams that participate in the competitions receive a kit that includes the materials for a small mechanical robot. The students build and adapt the robot to do simple tasks that demonstrate solid engineering.

For example, one task involves robots moving on their own for 15 seconds as they try to place a ring on a rack using a color-vision tracking system.

The competitions have a "pit" area for students to make repairs and a cheering section in the stands.

Catherine Sylve, a science teacher at Hazelwood Central who told the students about the competitions, credits the students, under the leadership of Wendel and their parents, for the Robohawks' success this year.

Students learn how to work with deadlines, tools and other people. While most build the robots, some students help in other ways, such as updating the club's Web site.

Parents help raise money so the students can travel to the competitions, and those with backgrounds in engineering offer guidance, she said.

The club also has expanded horizons for many students.

"I think what really brought it home to me was when a kid leaned over and told me, 'I'm going into engineering' at 8 o'clock at night when we're trying to put the robot together," Sylve said.

Reach Brian Flinchpaugh at bflinchpaugh@yourjournal.com.