Battle 'bots: A guidance program for juveniles

CAMBRIDGE. MINN. - There's a wedge between teacher David Larson and some of his students at the Oak Land Area Learning Center.

But that's a good thing. Their 15-pound wedge-shaped battle robot is keeping guys such as 16-year-old Kiefer Morgan engaged in learning rather than going over the edge of juvenile delinquency.

Known as Cuda6, the robot was made by hand in an elective class, tweaked and re-tweaked with wires, metal and some guidance from a local machine shop. Battery powered with a tiny transmission, Cuda6 is steered by a remote controller that Kiefer manipulates like a surgeon.

After two years of competing in battles with other robots in Plexiglas-caged arenas, Cuda6 will make its last run this weekend in the Rotunda Rumble at the Mall of America.

The massive battle-'bot event will feature more than 20 teams' robots going at one another in three-minute, double-elimination rounds. Judges award points for aggressiveness, control and damage inflicted.

"I'd probably be out running around being a hooligan, to tell you the truth, if I hadn't signed up for this class," Kiefer said, flashing a crooked smile. "This robot kind of brought together my inner spirit."

Larson rolled his eyes at his wisecracking student. Later, while Kiefer and his pals tinkered with a wheel knocked wobbly in a recent competition, Larson was grinning, too.

"That smile over there, you don't get that out of Kiefer anywhere else," Larson said. "He's a pretty serious kid and it's fun to see him open up."

Every Wednesday afternoon, Larson and a handful of his students gather to fine-tune Cuda6 and design its successor, a brick-like robot with a wedge nose they hope to have ready for next year's competitions.

"When I first signed up for this class, I didn't know what any of this stuff was," Kiefer said, pointing at the nest of wires and motors inside Cuda6's metal shell. "Now I've learned what every single part does, where every wire goes and what actually makes 'bots run."

Larson, 46, was among the founding teachers who started the Oak Land ALC 20 years ago, serving students on the mainstream's edge in Cambridge and Isanti, about an hour north of Minneapolis.

From the corner of the nondescript one-story building that houses the alternative learning center, Larson points at the table with the robot laid open and the students screwing things into place.

"Look over there," Larson said. "They're engaged in doing something with their hands, something positive and fun. A lot of times, these kids aren't doing fun positive things."

Kiefer spent eight days recently at the Lino Lakes juvenile detention center for trespassing. A recent scuffle at the high school threatened to send him back. Some of his fellow robot technicians have come and gone as they battled family problems, chemical dependency and truancy.

Thanks to Cuda6, though, Kiefer and robot sidekicks Alex Walden and Corey Ohm recently met Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren and shot a spot for her cable-access TV show.

Hands-on brilliance

Deb Holmes serves as commissioner of the Midwest Robotics League, a four-year-old organization that holds battle-'bot events throughout the school year. She and her husband, Sheldon, got involved when their son was on a team at a charter school in Ramsey.

"A lot of these kids are brilliant, but they need hands on," she said. "They can't just sit behind their desk, read textbooks and get good grades. They don't always fit in the regular structure."

Robotics competitions that feature machines performing tasks have grown in popularity. But battle-'bots are different -- the goal is to disable your competitor. Matt Gallagher, a 19-year-old senior at Buffalo High School, is the state's new star with a creation called Humdinger 2 that boasts a whirling saw blade that chews up rivals. Others have hammers and saws protruding from their cores.

But Cuda6 (6 because its on its sixth transmission) is a simple wedge that tries to sneak under foes and flip them. Kiefer said the origin of the "Cuda" name must remain secret, but it appears to involve the barracuda.

After several rough competitions this year, the team is ready to retire Cuda6 -- its metal is too heavy and wheels too vulnerable. At their latest meet in New Hope, Kiefer took the high road and bumped a middle-school team from Apple Valley-Eagan off the rail, where it was stuck and would have lost. The younger team came back and picked up enough points with its aggressive attacks to win the match. But the judges lauded Kiefer for his good sportsmanship.

"My wheels weren't spinning at the same speed, so I kept turning right," Kiefer said. "But I have no regrets. I just enjoy the hands-on experience of working with these 'bots."

He's looking ahead to graduating next year, considering trade schools and a possible career in machinery and welding.

"We've got different types of people in this class," he said. "And even if we don't like each other, when we work on a 'bot, we work as a team, and that's fun."

Curt Brown • 612-673-4767