It doesn't make cute noises like R2-D2 or have a face like BB-8, but the fact that it can roll across the floor, pick up a plastic crate and place it on tables of varying heights is pretty impressive.
The fact Fulton High School students created this robot from scratch is even more impressive. And now they're taking "Competition Claw'd" on the road.
Members of the FHS's Robotics Team and their leader, FAB Lab advisor Jim Hall, leave today for a regional robotics competition hosted at Chaifetz Arena at Saint Louis University. According to the event's website, 49 Midwestern teams have registered to compete.
Claw'd is powered by a 12-volt battery and ambulates on six wheels, like a tank. It has pneumatic mechanical arms that can clasp a 3.5-pound, canvas-covered milk crate, transport it to tables of varying heights, and place it on top.
"We were given the task of picking up the cube and putting it on different levels," said team member Elise Barton, a junior. "In the last 30 seconds, we're given a challenge of climbing a 6-foot (bar)."
All that, and the actual drivers on the day have not been allowed to practice driving Claw'd. The robotics team has 19 members, so there were substitute test drivers who used joy sticks to operate the robot.
The project began Jan. 6. Hall said FHS is the smallest public school to go to the competition, which runs Thursday through Saturday. This is the fifth annual FIRST Robotics Competition for the team.
FIRST St. Louis Region seeks to engage students in mentor-based programs that built STEM skills.