Madison BEST 2008
Just Plane Crazy
by Brian Bartlett
September 24, 2008
This Saturday saw the kickoff of Madison’s BEST season. BEST is
a robotics competition where the students have to build a robot
that is capable of completing several tacks. This year’s task
involves the manufacturing and assembly of airplanes. This year’s
team consists of Aaron Slate, Devin Slate, Jacob Smith, Cody
Schaffer, Chris Rice, Bryan Fankhauser, Braxton Butler, Alan Fouts,
Kayly Johnson, Tristan Brandt, and Mitchell Murphy.
BEST is an acronym for Boosting Engineering Science and Technology
and the Deans Circle of Engineers at Wichita State University hosts
it. The students are given a task to complete and a parts kit with
which to build a robot. The students then have six weeks to
brainstorm and build a robot capable of completing the task.
Helping the student are several “Mentors” who make suggestions as
to how the robot might be built. The mentors this year are Aaron
Luthi, Todd Pyle, Donette Biggs, and Ernie Cummings. At the end of
the week six the students will take their robot to Wichita and
compete against several other schools. Game day is held this year
at Koch Arena in Wichita on November the 1st and starts at 9
am.
