HARROD, Ohio (WLIO) - The Allen East Robotics Team has been hard at work all year designing, programming, and building different robotics projects. The class teaches the basics, including electrics and pneumatics, before letting the students create their own automated systems.
Allen East recently allowed the public to check out some of the projects that the students completed, as they were gearing up to head to Marion for the National Robotics Challenge.
The students gave us the run down of what their projects are.
"We built a slushy assembly line; it has three pneumatic actuators, one pneumatic mixer powered by air compressors," said Kelsey Eley.
"Our slushy cup will go down the line, the ice machine will shave ice into the cup, and then flavors will be dispensed," said Hailey Lawrence. "We have three different flavors to choose from, and you can choose multiple, and then we have a mixer that will mix it all up."
"I made a coffee bot, and what it does is it will take your order and it will make the coffee for you," said Alex Viola. "It can make anything from caramel to hazelnut to vanilla. I just had the idea that people across the world have problems getting to work on time because of coffee, and how you've got to stay energized somehow, so this project kind of led me to that."
"I'm doing additive manufacturing, so pretty much we're 3D printing and modeling a structure see how much weight can be put on top of it," said Oakley Foster. "I like to say that I've been into 3D printing for a very long time, and this helped me really strengthen my 3D modeling skills. This could be useful for architecture and buildings, and I've just really been fascinated in it."
The class also has opportunities to learn from people in the industry and potentially gain skills that they could use in a future career - but the bottom line is just being able to be creative, think outside of the box, and have fun while they're designing their projects.
"I just hope that they have a good time," said Nicole Flory, engineering and robotics teacher for Allen East. "At the end of the day, not all of these kids will go into this type of work, and that's okay. I hope that they learn, and it can apply these skills to real life. You're always going to have to think through multi step problems, give specific directions, and you can carry the teamwork atmosphere into any career you choose. So I just really hope that they learn, they have a good time, and at the end of the day, they decide if it's a career they want to pursue or not."
The Allen East team ended up winning the gold award in the Manufacturing Workcell" category at the 2026 National Robotics Challenge.
