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BotsIQ Program

What is Honors Applied Robotics?

The Gow School robotics program is an elective course that is only available to seniors. The students design, engineer, and manufacture a fifteen-pound combat robot. At the end of the school year, the students and their robot compete against 65 other teams at BotIQ, in Pittsburg, PA. This experience would not be possible without the hard work of teachers Mr. Lindahl and Mr. Poblocki who make sure students have a rewarding and safe experience while learning about the different types of machines and tools.

 

What is BotsIQ?

BotsIQ is a manufacturing workforce development program run by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Foundation. Their goal is to help young people understand how to bridge the gap between school and a career in engineering. There are many job openings and a lack of people to fill them in the engineering field, and BotsIQ wants to show people how to prepare for those open positions. BotsIQ started in 2005 with just six schools and now has over 70 teams and has impacted thousands of students.

 

When did the robotics program start at The Gow School?

The Gow School Robotics program started in 2002 when the team entered the BattleBots IQ robot battle competition in the 120-pound weight class. Gow Robotics competed in this weight class for more than 15 years before switching to the Bots IQ competition in the 15-pound weight class. We have had great success as a consistently competitive team in this tournament. Last year, we placed 4th and 10th out of 66 teams with the robots “Duckie-Poblocki” and “Munch”. Robotics continues to be a very popular senior elective that students look forward to throughout their time at Gow.

 

Does robotics generate student interest?

The robotics program is very popular, with both sections full every year. The teams often present during assembly, wear their competition shirts and answer questions about BotsIQ.  While our teams are fighting in Pittsburgh, the event is live-streamed and watched on campus.  Families that live far away also appreciate the opportunity to watch it live. Many families even make an effort to come to the competition to show their support for the school and our team.