CALEDONIA, Mich. — You could call it beginners luck. But that wouldn't be giving the Caledonia Robotics team enough credit. In their eighth year, the school is sending two teams to the world championships in a drone competition that they recently tried out for the very first time.
The competition, held at a Kettering University in Flint, was somewhat of a last minute invite for the team.
"They had some openings and they said hey, your rookie teams, we'd like to waive your fee so that you have a chance to compete and learn and practice we'd love for you to join us," said Stephanie Pearson who serves as financial director of the Caledonia RAD Program.
Learning and practicing was exactly what the team intended to do. They didn't expect much.
"We were all open that day. So we were like, you know what, let's learn about the game. Let's go there just to figure out what's going on with this game," said senior Colin Pearson.
"We're trying to blow ping pong balls into the corners of the goals. So there are four drones out on the field at a time. It's a 28 by 28-foot field. And so that's a pretty small space for for drones. There are sometimes crashes. Sometimes some exciting things that go on with that."
Pearson and teammate Grant Peek serve as the eyes and ears for fellow senior Nolan Reynolds.
"A huge part of it is communication. We have our on drone pilot, Nolan, who's typically flying and then Colin and I are on the other side, helping them out get through those keyhole gates," Peek said, gesturing to the practice field.
The team had only two practices before the competition, but they did not let that phase them.
"I'm just kind of like a go with the flow type of guy. I just showed up like alright, let's fly some drones and just have a good time. And we ended up winning," Reynolds said.
The win in the competition gives the three seniors an opportunity to participate in the World Championships in Texas in May. Mason Banfill and Alex Hochwarth qualified to attend as well based on their autonomous programming skills.
The win came as a surprise even for first-year team coach Joachim Hochwarth, an aerospace engineer, who is very proud of what the team has accomplished.
"It comes naturally to those kids to fly those drones. I mean, I tried earlier, and I didn't do as well. But I think they have fine motor skills, observation, and working as a team," Hochwarth said.
It will take a significant fundraising effort to get the team to worlds. If you'd like to help, contact rad.calrobotics@gmail.com.
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