Clairton all-girl robotics team heads to BotsIQ finals

Clairton City High School’s all-girl robotics team created a bot that looks sweet but will crush the competition. Candy Crusher, the remote-controlled robot made of military-grade titanium and adorned with stickers that look like candies, was the team’s entry for the BotsIQ competition finals in April at California University of PA. Teams construct robots that battle each other with the goal to disable, disarm, dismember or destroy other teams’ bots. The Clairton team built their machine in the school’s workspace, which includes a 3D printer for prototyping parts, machining tools, CAD (computer assisted design) stations and a mini battleground. Dennis Beard, a technology teacher at Clairton, is the group’s advisor. According to an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, students in the BotsIQ contest not only create and test the bot, but also have to keep a business binder that tracks the skills they’ve learned, build a resume and pretend to apply for a job.