McEachern Robotics Team Builds a Sixth-Place Finish

Team members hope to set higher goals for next year’s regional event.

Article courtesy Paul Eubanks The Techno Tribe has set a new standard for robotics at McEachern High School. The robot “bot-bot” exceeded the design achievements for this year, including the quality of the robot scoring, programming and student involvement. They finished in sixth out of 60 teams on the first day of competing. The team doesn't focus on place numbers because the numbers could never measure the improvements and hard work put into robot no. 3265. The team agrees that this year's robot design achieved all the goals set by FIRST Robotics. Waking up at 5:30 to 6 a.m. to catch a bus for a 60-minute drive to the Gwinnett Center was very entertaining for the team as they passed the long drive with song-singing and debates over music…

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McEachern Robotics Lends Hand to Must Ministries

Students helped the area nonprofit separate through mounds of clothing during the holiday season.

Article courtesy Kim Rogers and Paul Eubanks. Dec. 15,, the McEachern Robotics Team gave back to the community by helping out at Must Ministries Donation Center. Must Ministries furnishes food, clothing and basic living essentials to people that need them. The McEachern Robotics Team was astounded by what they saw. Vivian Evans, a member, said, “It’s like the Kennesaw Mountain made out of clothes!” There were piles and piles of clothing everywhere. Wendy Booth, the director, took us through instructions and safety procedures. Once they got inside the actual warehouse, she showed us how to get things done. She made sure we had on our gloves, and then we got busy. The Robotics Team separated through mounds of clothing. There were certain …

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Safety First for McEachern Robotics Club

An OSHA-led class at Kennesaw State University taught students basic procedures on how to handle machinery, chemicals and dealing with injuries in the workshop.

The 19 McEachern Robotics Team members took the first step toward competing this year by attending Kennesaw State University’s safety class and getting certified by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Before any of the students get near building robots, the safety class was mandatory to participate. The class practiced the basic safety procedures on how to handle machinery, chemicals and dealing with injuries in the workshop. Instructors emphasized the lack of knowledge of dangerous equipment and shed light on the huge job opportunities that use the same type of machines and tools. In an activity to recognize the hazards in their own classroom, the students created a replica of the classroom and labeled all of the hazards …

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McEachern Robotics Places in Top 15

The team had six weeks to build their robot for the FIRST Peachtree Regional robotics competition.

From McEachern High: The McEachern Indians FIRST Robotic Team competed in the Peachtree Regional robotics competition on March 15, 16 and 17 at the Gwinnett Area. There were 60 teams at this year’s event, and the Indians showed their robotic skills by placing 15. This robot was constructed to play basketball in a challenge called Rebound Rumble.  The robot had to also balance on a bridge in the last 30 seconds to acquire more points. This required a skilled student hand and precise-moving robot.  The team was comprised of graphic artists, computer programmers, and robotic design and construction sub units.  The team had six weeks to build this robot, which included many after-school and weekend meetings with grants from NASA, GE, UTC and …

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Indian Robotics Lends Helping Hand

The team from McEachern worked on a portion of trail for Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park on Dec. 10.

By Chyral Saux It was all hands in on Dec. 10 when McEachern’s First Robotics Team went out to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park to help maintain less than a mile of the 20 miles worth of trail at this remarkable landmark. Even with events such as ACT testing, Shop With An Indian, and last-minute Christmas shopping, 17 students, three team mentors, and a parent managed to come out and give back to the community. Even the superintendent of the park, Nancy Walther, came out to support the team’s community project. First, the team had to walk a mile to get to the actual trail that they were going to repair. Then they had to dig many buckets of dirt and transport them to another part of the trail to build up a switch back, which …

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McEachern Robotics Welcomes All Area Students

Speaking about children from Tapp Middle, engineering teacher Paul Eubanks said: “It’s amazing—some of these little kids really know their stuff."

McEachern engineering teacher Paul Eubanks is getting a head start on preparing his afterschool robotics club for the spring semester’s Peachtree Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. It won’t be until January when the third-year club will find out what robot it must build for the competition. But in an effort to start getting prepared, Monday will be the first time the club will meet after school in Room 103 of the career tech building, Eubanks said Eubanks emphasized that the club isn’t just about building the robot, and that anyone is welcome to join. There are students involved in graphic design, marketing, organizing and more, he added.  “Our program is all about selling lifelong learning, and that appeals to more kids,” he said. …

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McEachern Offers New Robotics Class

Capitalizing on the enormous growth of the after-school club, students will be attending the county’s first academic robotics class in the fall semester.

Riding a wave of enthusiasm from both students and teachers in only its third year of existence, McEachern High will be the first school in Cobb County to offer an academic robotics course. Last year, the after-school club grew from 12 students to a state-high 63. The extracurricular club will immediately follow the class, which starts with school on Monday. Students are eligible for the class after taking three years of engineering with Paul Eubanks, one of the advisers for the club. They must also have recommendations from Eubanks and one of the other club mentors: career and business technology teacher Robby Blakemore or math teacher Heather Jones. McEachern Assistant Principal Paul Gillihan uncovered the opportunity to provide an …

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McEachern Robotics Helps Guide Futures

Students describe how aspirations can become reality through the club.

Last year’s success played a large role in the McEachern High School Robotics Club’s membership surpassing 50 students this year, Adviser Paul Eubanks said. But some of the members said they were attracted to the club because robotics could potentially shape their futures. "I have a love for technology," said 14-year-old Trevor Taylor. "That's what drew me to robotics in the first place: I can learn more about it and advance my skills." Sophomore Alexandria Valentine said the Robotics Club will help guide her to her dream of being a pilot. "I heard most pilots have an engineering background,” she said. “Robotics might put a spotlight on me when colleges look at my credentials. This will enhance my engineering skills." While skill-building …

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McEachern Robotics Excited About Challenge

Club members found out Saturday that the robot they must build for a March competition will be more elaborate than last year.

To enter the Peachtree Regional FIRST Robotics Competition last year, the McEachern Robotics Club had a seemingly simple task, at least for those with mechanical minds: build a robot capable of playing soccer. For the 2011 competition and the club’s second year in existence, things are going to be a bit more challenging, said Paul Eubanks, one of the club’s advisers. The 53-member club must build a robot that can pick up an inflatable triangle, carry it across a field and place it on a pegboard. “It’s like a little floaty thing that you’d have in the pool,” Eubanks said. “They’re not real heavy, but they’re awkward" to carry. The robot must then race back and forth across the field twice more, repeating the process with an inflatable …

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McEachern Prepares for Robot Wars

Students will find out Jan. 8 what they must create for an annual competition in March.

Paul Eubanks, an engineering teacher at McEachern High School, had too much on his plate, so he had to make a decision. His two options: Keep coaching the lacrosse team, or continue his Robotics Club advising duties. He chose the latter. Eubanks has advised the Robotics Club since it started last school year. The after-school organization has blossomed from a small group to 56 students. "Most of these kids are not athletes. Most of these kids are not artists," he said. "But most of these kids have landed in their genre. This is their world." The team is scheduled to compete in the 2011 Peachtree Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in Duluth, which starts March 15. McEachern also competed last year. Last year's competition went well, …