LCHS Engineering Students Win Major Prize from ALTEC for Robot
Imagine a robot that could automatically clean up local lakes and ponds like an aquatic vacuum. That’s the vision that LCHS engineering students are making a reality, thanks to a $10,000 award from ALTEC.
A handful of LCHS students, in partnership with Elizabethtown Independent Schools, built a working model of a trash-collecting robot that cleans up the local environment as part of ALTEC’s Innovation Challenge. According to the students, they wanted to create something that would give back to the community.
“We’re going to put it in Freeman Lake because they offered us the opportunity of giving it a chance to implement it. That was kind of the reasoning for this. And the idea of the challenge was to do something that helps the environment,” said engineering student Conlee Crossno. “We went to local lakes and ponds, and that one had a lot of trash in it. By making this boat, we’ll be able to clean up a lot of that pollution in the water.”
As student Carter Peace explained, the fully autonomous boat runs 24/7 and will deposit trash to be collected whenever it’s full.
“You map out the body of water on the autopilot software, and then it picks up the trash," he explained. “Wherever it's full, it will go to the dock where it will be emptied.”
Combining a passion for innovation and a spirit of giving back is exactly what ALTEC representative Marc Czulewicz said is at the heart of engineering projects.
“We're looking to build the next generation. All of us engineers at ALTEC love being engineers and try to engage with stuff like this,” Czulewicz said. “It's a great way to give back to the community while also passing on that community involvement to young members of the community.”
Amanda Reed, LaRue County Assistant Superintendent for Student Achievement, said the program benefits students even if they don’t pursue a career in engineering.
“Problem-solving involves a skill set that will benefit these students professionally, personally, and as citizens who contribute positively to their community,” Reed said. “Through this kind of community involvement, students are learning career skills and exploring careers that may be of interest to them but they are also learning the importance of giving back.”
Sage Garris, another LCHS member of the engineering team, said translating their idea into real-world mechanics helped him build skills with his teammates and the ALTEC engineers.
“After the ideation and the presentation, after we actually had the money, we started getting in touch with manufacturers and some other things that aren't necessarily consumer-available,” Garris said. “We got a lot better with our social skills and our ability to talk to other adults and work out financials and some of those soft business skills that you need to have.”
On a national scale, programs like robotics engineering are on the rise. Robotics programs are now part of curriculum as early as elementary school. Companies like LEGO and Sphero encourage students of all ages across the country to understand that engineering can be a practical way to change the community around them for the better.
Czulewicz said that students reshaping their communities is a key factor to the ALTEC Innovation Challenge.
“We're looking to build ties to the community and to get involved in the high schools, while at the same time empowering them to give back to the community that they grew up in. It’s exciting,” Czulewicz said.
The LCHS team hopes that their success encourages other students to get involved in the program.
“I hope it motivates them to want to come up with their own ideas,” said participant Tate Wootton. “[I hope they] want to win how we won and implement their ideas how we're going to get to do ours.”