Riley Davison’s Wednesday was filled with excitement for one reason: “smashing bots.”

The Pine-Richland senior was among dozens of high school students who crowded in Robert Morris University’s John Jay Center for the 17th annual BotsIQ, a regional competition in which student-made robots fight each other gladiator-style.

In one corner, robots fought in an industrial enclosure reminiscent of a boxing ring. Loud clanging noises could be heard from the ring as the bots, armed with wheels and weapons, crashed into each other and the ring’s barriers.

High schoolers controlled the bots with remote controls outside the ring, while a panel of judges watched the battle up close.

The bracket-style competition helps students see how manufacturing and engineering work “in real life,” according to Fox Chapel Area team adviser Ryan Siniawski.

“(BotsIQ) is definitely more exciting than just turning in a paper,” Siniawski said. “(The students) can see their design come to life, and then they can see it die at the same time. It’s cool. They’re excited to be here.”

Nineteen teams from 13 schools competed in the first round of preliminaries on Wednesday. Two more preliminary rounds will take place on March 15 and 17 at Westmoreland County Community College, with a final competition on April 29-30 at the California University of Pennsylvania.

The primary purpose of the preliminaries is to help students see “what’s working and what’s not” ahead of the final competition, according to Michel Conklin, BotsIQ executive director.

No eliminations will occur until the final competition. The preliminaries will be used to seed the final competition.

Intent: Mimic industry

The competition aims to “mimic the industry” with its regulations, guidelines and safety procedures, Conklin explained. BotsIQ is a nonprofit, manufacturing workforce development program and part of the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Foundation.

Students needed to follow a 40-page book of technical guidelines when constructing their 15-pound robots.

Johnathan Campbell, a sophomore at Freeport Area High School, described the construction process as “a lot of work” that could sometimes get “confusing.”

To prepare for the competition, students first had to design their bots. Some teams reused and remodeled previous years’ bots, while other teams designed their bots from scratch.

To ensure pieces of their design would fit together, teams used 3D-printed models. They then began constructing the bot. During the lengthy construction process, changes and adjustments often had to be made, Campbell said.

Before a bot can fight, it must be approved by BotsIQ safety inspectors. Caitlin Workmaster, a safety inspector, said her team checks a bot’s weight, voltage, wires, locomotion and more before each battle.

“In their careers, (the students are) going to have to be able to work on the fly and adjust at a moment’s notice,” Workmaster said.

The bots wouldn’t be complete without creative names. Some of Wednesday’s bots included Union’s “Robot Downey Jr.” and Seneca Valley’s “Rocky Botboa.”

Pine-Richland named one of its bots “Frankenstein” because the team used two past bots to create a new one.

“We took the old, dead parts and built a new bot,” Davison said.

Some teams couldn’t compete Wednesday but still made an appearance. Brentwood’s bot wasn’t ready, but the team will still compete in the finals.

Sophomore Aiden Gordon wasn’t discouraged, saying he looks forward to “winning it all” in April.

Fox Chapel’s bot also wasn’t ready, but the team will have “more than enough time” to prepare for the finals, Siniawski said.

The competition ultimately helps students learn industry skills and life lessons, according to Deer Lakes senior Dom Tristani said.

“We all learn something every time we’re (at BotsIQ),” Tristani said.

Pine-Richland senior Keara Jorgensen agreed.

“I think working on the bot in general will prepare us for engineering,” Jorgensen said. “You have to solve problems and find ways to fix things that you’re not typically doing on a daily basis.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)