humans from pylons, taking them
through the course to safety. It was
after these competitions that Chad
decided to keep building because
he “… had so much fun.”
Since then, Chad has competed
in several competitions. Chad —
who loves to learn — believes that
being the youngest competitor has
given him an advantage that others
may not be so fortunate to have.
Chad recalls the first year he came
to HORD, “My robot didn’t do so
well. Mr. [David] Graham let me
drive one of his robots and showed
me a lot of stuff. I like to listen and
talk to the other people so that I
can learn from their experience.”
Chad’s love of learning and
passion for robotics has become a
family affair. “We build them
together and it’s something my
whole family can work on. Dad
helps me with a lot of the stuff and
testing. We have time set aside that
we work each week. He enjoys the
time we spend together doing it.”
Robotics has also helped Chad
to develop a supportive and
growing fan base. According to his
mother, “We have friends who
have helped us with learning and
finding access to design systems;
given us access to their machinery
to design parts; have built parts for
us; helped us with scrap material
and parts; helped Chad with ideas
and set up other learning
experiences for him. We even have
one who builds us duplicates of the
play fields for some of his
competitions like the huge maze
and gravel pit that sits in our
basement.”
“It’s not just us that
encourages him. He has way more
than your average support group,
and we are extremely grateful to all
of them for being a part of his life.
The rides home are always filled
with phone calls and texts to many
people about how the competition
went. One of our friends even
makes coconut cream pies and
cookies to celebrate the wins.
They all have different talents
and have been willing to share
them with Chad. His dad works for
Precision Machine Controls, and
they have also been very supportive
of Chad and helped with various
things including some of our
manufacturing and machining
Chad’s love for robotics has so
inspired his parents that they are
currently raising funds and looking
for space to start a children’s
robotics group in their community.
Chad encourages kids who
think they might be interested in
robotics to “…. do some research,
take chances, and explore your
options. Unless you try it, you
won’t know if you like it.” SV
Chad
receiving
award at
HORD 2013.
Chad's rescue robot.
SERVO 10.2013 33