The Huntington County 4-H FIRST Robotics Team was the first of its kind in Indiana, started in 1999. Since then, multiple 4-H teams have popped up across the country, binding the four H’s (Head, Heart, Hands, and Health) with the science of technology of FIRST robotics. There is no better illustration of this partnership than Huntington Robotics’ most recent project.

Two years ago, Huntington police officer, Dale Osborn, approached the team and asked what happened to the “retired” robots. He was interested in using them as a moving target for the county shooting range. The team president, Chris Elston, offered to build him a robot specifically for the purpose instead.

The team put together a preliminary design and brought it to Officer Osborn for approval. After the meeting, a budget was developed for the project--a robot with a life-like figure that can move up and down, turn 180 degrees, and move around via its base--coming to a total of about $2,500. All of this information gathered, the team started to search for possible funding options. They applied for United REMC’s Operation Round-up grant, and after a meeting with the United REMC’s board, it was approved and the project started running.

Two students, Gracie and Kaleb Fowler, agreed to head up the project, with the hopes of keeping it an almost completely student ran project. Gracie is the Project Engineer, and Kaleb the lead mechanical engineer. Together they gathered a group of about five other students and got to work. The project is currently in the building phase, and will be given to the Huntington County Police Department on August 11th in a special event.

The Huntington 4-H Robotics Team felt, that due to all of the support from their community that helps keep them afloat, it would only be right to give back . This robot will be in use at the county shooting range, serving every police department in the county. The robot will be useful in developing officers’ reaction times in real life situations, skills that are significantly harder to achieve with paper and still targets.

In addition to helping the officers and the community, it also had some extra benefits. It allowed the students to take the lead, giving them valuable leadership experience as well as a chance to develop their skills as engineers and problem solvers.

The team will once again be competing in the FIRST Robotics Competition this year. In the past, they have done very well, winning the U.L. Industrial Safety Award and the Imagery Award at the Boilermaker Regional. They would like to thank their regular season sponsors: NASA, United Technologies, Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Henline’s Towing, BAE systems, Wal-Mart, PHD, and Huntington University. You can visit their website at www.huntingtonrobotics.org