Ajax Metal Forming Solutions and Sales Engineer Jayson Marcott have again joined the robotics team at Providence Academy of Plymouth, Minnesota, to create a new entry for the FIRST® Robotics Competition. FIRST® is the world’s leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.
FIRST® organizes teams of high school students and their instructors to build high-tech robots that launch balls into goals, hang on bars, operate along balance beams, and more. Although a kit of standard robot parts is provided, FIRST® encourages teams to design custom parts that improve robot performance. That’s where Ajax and Sales Engineer Jayson Marcott stepped in to assist. The Providence team designed custom parts made from lightweight aluminum but lacked the material and machinery needed to make the parts. Ajax provided the aluminum and allocated time on the company’s Salvagnini L3 fiber laser and Loewer Beltmaster to cut and deburr the parts.
“Providence Academy has a very impressive group of youngsters on their robotics team,” Jayson said. “We’re very excited to see how this year’s robot performs in competition.” Last year, Providence finished 7th out of 25 teams but won the FIRST® Engineering Award.
“Our team got right to work to replace the robot’s wooden prototypes with the finished laser-cut plates that Ajax produced,” said Providence Physics and Engineering Instructor Michael Plucinski. “The parts fit beautifully, and we had a successful test of the mechanism. We greatly appreciate all that Jayson and Ajax do for us here at the Academy.”
The Providence team will compete on March 3, 4 & 5 at the Entertainment and Convention Center in Duluth, Minnesota. Check back to get competition results!
The maintenance bay for the Providence Academy robotics team, Power Amplified #4511, at the Entertainment and Convention Center in Duluth, MN on March 3, 4 & 5, 2022.
Competition Update
Providence Academy finished the competition with a record of four wins, five losses, and no ties. While the final score did not live up to the team’s high hopes, the event went very well. Most importantly, the team members gained valuable engineering knowledge and experience throughout the process of designing, building, and operating the robot.
View the competition video here: https://youtu.be/7Bj86SpvVD8
Ajax congratulates team leader Michael Plucinski, the physics and engineering instructor at Providence, and the Providence team members who made this year’s competition so worthwhile. Great job everyone!