Karis Haney

Andy Mai ‘24 and Azael Mayer ‘24 working together on Rampire’s Robot

MICDS robotics had their last competition of the year on February 3rd, and while the two teams fell short of making it to the final round, Ramifications got 1st place for the Control Award, and Rampire placed 3rd in the Innovate Award. Both teams competed to make it to state, and both made it to the final round with 30 other teams in the district. The competition included 30 total matches and each team completed a portfolio: the portfolio covers anything from the process and progress of the robot, to what one’s team has accomplished outside of the competition season. 

The MICDS robotics team is divided into two subteams: Rampire and Ramifications. They competed this year from early January to early February, Rampire placing 26th and Ramifications placing 7th overall in the St. Louis Mid-League. 

With so many things to accomplish, a lot of different interests, and many people on the team, both teams report that they have a lot of talent. 

“Our team’s strengths lie in: we can do anything. There’s a lot of things to do with this years challenge, there’s placing things on a board that’s on a slant, there’s certain patterns and things you build onto the board, there’s a paper airplane you launch at a certain distance, there’s a hanging component where the robot lifts itself off the ground, which is not easy to lift a 50 pound robot off the ground, there’s the ability to pick up and push pixels throughout the entire thing,” Rampire member Nathaniel Lieser ‘24 said.

“Even though we have a lot of people, we still make it so that everyone can contribute to the robot, our robot is like a melting pot of all our ideas,” Ramifications member Henry Clay ‘24 said.

Robotics isn’t just about competitions either. Both teams participate in a program at Wyland Elementary School geared towards teaching kids about robotics, problem solving, and engineering.

“For the past few weeks, we have been teaching 4th and 5th graders how to design and prototype robots through cardboard and Lego spike prime kits. This experience is giving them a stepping stone into the STEM field, and allowing them to experience the depth and understand the creative design process that goes into the STEM field,” Rampire member Tanay Goel ‘24 said.

The club overall is a combination of many talents and diverse backgrounds, where anyone can be a part of the robotics team experience, even those not directly pursuing a career in STEM.

“The team is comprised of several types of people. You’ve got the engineering team which is directly involved in making the robot do what it needs to do, but also you have programmers who are involved and you have marketing people who handle things such as T-shirt designs, logos, and otherwise also keeping team morale up,” team supervisor Travis Menghini said.

“It’s a great way to get experience working on long term projects, and very unique projects you’re not going to get in a classroom,” Ramifications member Nora Wright ‘24 says.