Fifteen area high schools gather for Robot Rumble competition in Rolling Meadows

Using mechanical proxies, 15 high schools from across the region gathered in Rolling Meadows Saturday for a fierce competition in which violence and destruction were encouraged and rewarded.

But it was the smoothly sinister Spatula from Prospect High School that took out all of its competitors at the Robot Rumble, including those that appeared to be much more heavily weaponized.

That included its final foe, RageBait, from host Rolling Meadows High School. The wedge-shaped Spatula slipped under the base of its fearsome-looking, square-shaped opponent to flip it onto its back before then bouncing it onto the stationary whirling weapon at the side of the enclosed arena space.

“My God, somebody stop the carnage!” the ringside announcer pleaded. “Do we have any other kitchen utensils to stop the Spatula?”

In every match of the day, Spatula appeared to be a perfectly designed instrument of destruction. But its own makers denied any shape was a guarantee of success.

Prospect High School senior Elijah Mueller and his teammates said that while there is a difference between how well made each robot is, every design decision comes with advantages and disadvantages. While two years ago theirs was the only one to include a flipper mechanism, they found that element to have become influential since then.

But after two years of second place, they got the victory they’d been working for on Saturday.

Bob Brown, the faculty coach of the Hersey High High School team with 27 years’ experience of such competitions, agreed with the apparent modesty of the winners. When it comes to picking a design, he said the Robot Rumble is a high-tech version of the rock, paper, scissors game.

His team includes siblings Matthew and Nyla Banholzer who said their interest was sparked by their older brother Carter. Now a senior, Matthew plans to transfer his mechanical experience to majoring in aviation flight at the University of Nebraska in Omaha.

Fellow senior Tim Zuske of Grayslake Central High School said his involvement with the competition was also the culmination of early inspiration.

“When I was little, I watched ‘BattleBots’ on TV,” he said.

Though his school’s first team came during his final year, he hopes his younger teammates will learn from the experience to enhance the design of their robot Swiss Harbinger, named for the holes in its metal frame to keep its weight lighter.

There were about 360 students and 44 robots represented in the tournament. Other schools included Buffalo Grove, Conant, Elk Grove, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Schaumburg, Wheeling, East and West Leyden, and St. Patrick in Chicago.