Banner year for Plum robotics

Robert Miller, the adviser for Plum’s school robotics club, wasn’t sure if the program would survive past this year.

When the team’s previous advisers stepped down a week before school started and his son couldn’t find a replacement teacher, Miller stepped up despite being, as he put it, “just a dad, not an educator or anything.”

As a parent, Miller had to receive approval from Plum Borough School Board. Overall, the process set the robotics club behind by about two months, meaning club members couldn’t test many designs that they wanted to build, nor could they start raising money.

“We were kind of behind the eight ball,” said Miller. “By training, I’m a chemist. So essentially, what I am (to the club) is a dad that knows how to turn a wrench. I don’t know anything about robotics, so we essentially are starting from absolutely nothing.”

Using tweaked versions of past designs, Plum’s Team R.A.M. won first place and was named Grand Champion at the 2023 BotsIQ Finals in April, and competed at the 2023 BotsIQ National Competition in May.

“I think the team overall, no matter what they did, I am super proud that they were able to build a robot, work with each other, and achieve one goal,” said alumnus Joe Doerfler. “It shows what the club is about and what it has meant to past alumni, and I hope it shows to the school district that this club should be taken seriously.”

He and his brother, Don, donated $62,500 to the club to keep it funded for many years.

“I was their absolute, 100% biggest fan,” said Miller, who helped pay for much of what the robotics club needed this past year. “We were scraping the bottom of the barrel. There’s no money, and the last thing you want to do is tell a kid, ‘No, you can’t compete because we don’t have $200.’

“When Joe and Don came, they breathed new life into the program, which I kept on life support, which is a shame because Plum has a huge history of turning out combat robots.”

In addition to the Doerlfer brothers’ monetary donation, alumni Zach Knight and Michael Schorr have spent much time with the kids, guiding them in the right direction for the events. It’s a similar challenge for Schorr, who, currently in college, lost time in his robotics club during the pandemic.

Along with the Doerfler brothers, albeit on a different team, Schorr competes on Discovery Channel’s BattleBots.

“If it wasn’t for those guys, we would have never fielded a single bot,” said Miller. “I think it really speaks to the history of the program. These are guys who have been successful.”