It was a day on which Western engineering students were judges. High schoolers who stood on tip-toes were serious competitors. And 20-pound-baseball-lifting robots – well, they were still 20-pound-baseball-lifting robots.

Western’s engineering department hosted the eighth annual Kentucky Bluegrass Robotics Competition Saturday.

Eleven high school teams met at the McConnell Lab in the Engineering and Biological Sciences building to compete.

Teams had six weeks to build a remote-controlled robot, but not all of them started working at the beginning of the competition.

Western supplied the materials and told the teams what to expect.

The competition is a fun way to address a serious issue, said Bruce Kessler, assistant dean of Ogden College.

There’s a nationwide shortage of students and teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, collectively known as STEM.

“It’s not just Ogden College trying to take over the world,” Kessler said.

Kessler used national security as an example of why STEM fields are so important.

“There are certain things we can’t offshore, and national security is one of them,” Kessler said.

Students demonstrated their academic skills during the competition by putting their robots through an obstacle course.

Teams then had three minutes to accumulate points.

From their starting point, teams could go over a ramp in the center of the floor, which was worth 20 points or go through streamers for their corresponding color, which was worth 10 points.

At the other end, colored tape was put down in a square. Within the giant square were two wooden frames, one within the other.

Lying within the tape, but outside the wooden frame, there were colored plastic golf balls and baseballs. Resting on top of each of the boards that held the streamers, there was a miniature soccer ball for each color.

The first round showcased two of the strongest teams in the competition – both from Warren Central High School.

One team’s robot was SAKK-MATT, which means checkmate in Hungarian. The team was comprised of two Hungarian students, Miklos Jancso and Marton Jancso, and two Serbian students, Fejzulah Audic and Mirel Hasanovic.

Their robot was the only one able to knock the mini soccer ball off of the steamers with an extendable rod.

The team got most of its points by lifting the soccer ball and putting it in the wooden bin.

The robot had a small metal scoop in the front that closed together to pick up the ball. The mechanics were aided by small metal weights that pulled a lever in the back of the robot to lift the scoop.

SAKK-MATT scored 57 points in the first round. By round 13, that score alone was enough to beat five of 10 other teams.

The other strong robot in the first round was Leeroy Jenkins.

The team consisted of Sam Meffert, Goran Omerdic, Keenan Ray and Thomas Choate.

Their robot had a large metal sheet on the front with a 90 degree bend at the bottom.

When the robot picked up the balls with the flat part, it would turn 180 degrees, and the panel would rise. The balls slid down the metal panel into the wooden frame similar to a dump truck.

The robot also stood out because the metal sheet was adorned with Revolution 91.7 stickers.

Mouth Card senior Adam Stapleton, program director at Revolution, said the station was the team’s unofficial sponsor.

Stapleton, a student teacher at Warren Central High School, said that Choate approached him and asked for help.

“I basically oversaw them and made sure they didn’t blow anything up,” Stapleton said.

He said he also helped some with the wiring.

Choate’s mother, Connie Choate, said it was nice to have somebody older looking out for the high school students.

“I wanted an adult in my garage before they got to blood and stitches,” Connie Choate said jokingly. “Although I did find some blood yesterday . ”

“That was me, sorry,” Ray said.

After 22 rounds, eight runs for each team, the top four teams advanced to the semifinals. The robots were SAKK-MATT, Leeroy Jenkins, G. H. Warriors and Red Barren.

While many competitors moved around slightly to see better, G. H. Warriors’s member Dakota Gore raced along the edge, stood on tip-toes and craned his neck to see better.

It worked. G. H. Warriors accumulated 108 points in only two rounds and faced SAKK-MATT in the finals.

Teammates screamed over Styx’s “Mr. Roboto” to help their drivers during the finals. SAKK-MATT members had problems with their robot getting stuck on the carpet, and the G. H. Warriors won easily.

Trophies went to the top four teams. Fourth place went to Red Barren, third to Leeroy Jenkins, second to SAKK-MATT and first to G. H. Warriors.

Most photogenic went to team Spencer 74, most robust went to Leeroy Jenkins, most innovative went to SAKK-MATT and most points in a single round went to the G.H. Warriors with 77 points.

Reach Chris Byrne at news@chherald.com.