THE Paul-Langevin high school is still in the final. HAS Beauvaisfour students from BTS design and production of automatic systems (CRSA) qualified for the national final of Fanuc Olympics. A robotics competition renowned which attracts competitors from all over France. Last year already, a Paul-Langevin team reached the final.
To qualify, Aurélien Gautier, Nathan Bradin, Florent Lecler and Mathéo Van Pul had to imagine and design a complete robotic cell in 3D. With the right choice of robots and respect for material constraints as in a real company. Their articulated arm then had to correctly place a seal in the cover of a junction box. A challenge that was met with flying colors according to the two teachers who accompanied them, Yannick Sutra and Stéphane Bouillette.
Work in addition to classes
To achieve this, the four students met every Friday afternoon, outside of their class hours, to work. Once the first stage of the competition has passed, they are one of the 20 finalist teams out of 64 participating schools. They are now preparing for the final, which will take place on April 2 and 3, by carrying out the subjects that have been covered in recent years. This time, they don’t know in advance what awaits them. They will receive a subject the same day and will have to do everything to create a functional robotic cell with the constraints imposed.
During the final, there can only be three of them to handle. A choice too cruel for their teachers. So they all decided together like adults with a secret ballot. But Mathéo, who will not compete in the final, will still accompany his comrades. In the meantime, they are preparing thoroughly. They even worked on their project during the Christmas holidays.
A plus for the CV, and knowledge
Participation in this competition allows students to go further in robotics than the BTS CRSA school program allows. While proving to future recruiters their autonomy and their desire to work. “We supervise them but they are the ones who do everything», insist Messrs. Sutra and Bouillette. It is this mixture of desire to learn and build a CV that pushed the students to enter this competition.
To succeed in the first step, they had to be resourceful. Because these are subjects that they have not necessarily covered in class. Despite the documentation provided by Fanuc, certain parts were missing and they had to be invented and then created with another 3D modeling software. Without forgetting the most difficult of constraints: size. “The cell had to measure 2 meters by 2.50 meters», Explain the students. It’s very restricted to move an articulated arm.
While waiting to know their result in the final (they are aiming for the podium), it will be possible to discover the work of these BTS during the open days organized on February 28.
