The OEM sponsored Shelton High School FIRST Robotics Team completed its successful 2018 season by competing in the championship event in Detroit, MI with 400 of the best teams in the world. This event was the culmination of their four-month long season in which they were required to design, build, and compete with a robot to play the 2018 game of FIRST Power-Up.
In the two qualifying events, the Gaelhawks won the first and were finalists in the second. Of the 209 teams in New England, they were ranked #6 this year and were eliminated in the semi-finals at the world championship event.
Shelton High Schools robot, named Clyde, is a sophisticated machine that accrued a season record of 68 wins and 17 losses. They also won the prestigious Innovation in Controls Award for its autonomous performance. Clyde is 33 inches long, 28 inches wide, and 54 inches tall with the ability to reach up to 78 inches tall. Clyde weighed in at 109 pounds and is able to reach a maximum speed of 13 feet per second. The robot consists of 10 electric motors, six quadrature encoders, and multiple sensors including a single axis gyro. Clyde is able to drive in any direction with its 4-wheel mecanum drive.
The FIRST Robotics Competition program is designed to be a collaborative effort between professionals and students. FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is a program that was founded by inventor Dean Kamen and MIT Mathematician, Woodie Flowers in 1992. They believed that science and technology should be celebrated as much as sports prowess. OEM Controls has similar beliefs and has been sponsoring the Shelton High School Robotics Team for 12 years. One of the engineers here at OEM serves as a mentor for these teens, instructing them primarily in the electrical and mechanical design of the robot. The team members are also taught how to properly use power tools as well.
We hope to pass on our knowledge and dedication for the manufacturing and engineering industries to the youth in our community, our future.
