H.E.A.T placed first in Most Robust Machine, first in Spirit and Sportsmanship and fifth overall.

“The competition is only 40 percent the robot; there is so much more that goes into it,” senior William Wyeth, H.E.A.T member said. “You also have to keep a journal, a booth with your sponsors and be a good sport.”

Williams said the robot built reached about four feet high and out three feet.

“The robot itself must be built from a strict list of materials that are supplied by the event hub. Essentially, they give the team a box of plywood, PVC, string, motors, and random bits. It’s pretty intense. 6 weeks later, we all show up with our products and compete with the other 30-some-odd teams,” engineering teacher John Williams said.

The event tested the robot three ways movement, length and precision. Wyeth said in the movement event the robot had to be able to pick up wooden dowels and place them into pvc pipes at different heights and angles. The robots also had to pick up coat hangers and hang them on pegs, testing how high the robot could reach. In the third event the robot arm picked up foam pieces with wooden pegs and placed them in the correct spots on a puzzle-like board.

“I must say I was pleased having been part of Bryant’s best ever BEST performance, but there’s still a good bit of room for improvement. As our team (H.E.A.T.) grows and gains experience, I’m confident our performances in this sort of event will become more and more impressive. I’m looking forward to that,” Williams said.

With four remote controlled robots, the engineering department created a game for the students to play Nov. 11. The object of the game was to push the other robot’s button; once a button is pushed, the player’s robot dies for six seconds. Each player gets three lives before the robot dies.

H.E.AT plans to attend the NWA Vex Tournament in Fayetteville, Dec. 14 where they will compete in the TOSS UP game.