Benicia High senior Rhiannon Johnson (Left) and Advanced Placement art teacher Dan Frazier jump for joy with their creation, Gatobot. The 13-foot robotic panther was designed by BHS art and robotics students. (Photo by Sheridan Lugo)

After months of hard work, Benicia High School art and robotics students finally got to see the fruits of their labor: their very own robot.

You read that right: Benicia High School students built a robot.

Gatobot, a 13-foot cardboard robotic panther, was a collaborative project between Dan Frazier’s Adavanced Placement studio art class and Andreas Kaiser’s robotics class. The project was completed in late 2014 and could be seen walking across the Benicia High campus at several points for the next few years. This achievement was featured at Benicia’s Mini Maker Faire at Benicia Middle School this year and at the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo where it will make its return this weekend.

“It is an amazing feeling to have our high school project selected over so many other applicants,” Frazier said. “We are proud to represent Benicia High School along with the likes of Stanford and Google.”

The project was spearheaded by senior Rhiannon Johnson. Frazier provided artistic input and blue spraypaint, and Kaiser provided electronic expertise and parts while his class did the wiring.

Frazier described the first attempt to build the robot as a constructive failure. However, on the second attempt, students were able to build a 13-foot high robotic panther, in keeping with the school’s mascot. After four months of tinkering with the lights and robotics, Gatobot- the name being a combination of the Spanish word for cat and shorthand for robot- was born. According to Frazier, Gatobot is a four-person operation. One person stands inside the suit, one runs the remote electronics and sound, one acts as the controller and another acts as the “Foot Wrangler.”

“The large motion and walking is controlled by the inside man, who is signaled to move by the controller,” Frazier said. “The remote electronics student has wireless sound manipulation and lighting effects that she controls using various modules. The Wrangler keeps other people people from being stepped on by Gatobot’s 2’X2.5’ feet.”

Frazier is proud of the work his students have done.

“It is a huge kinetic artwork that integrates multiple disciplines and interacts with the public,” he said. “As a student project, that is a slam dunk.”

He also had praise for the encouraging environment of Benicia High.

“The support Advanced Placement Art and the art program at BHS in general has gotten from our principals and the administration team has been crucial to the development of these large and successful projects,” he said. “Gatobot has traveled and been seen by thousands of visitors because he has the full support of the people approving the transport vans, substitute time and tool provisioning. It’s really easy to say ‘No’ to a new and never before seen art project of this scale, and I have certainly worked in schools that would never have dared to build big or different. Here in Benicia, however, we use ‘Yes,’ and the results for students are fantastic.”

Frazier is pleased to have his students’ work featured at an event as large as the Bay Area Maker Faire.

“Being an official presenter at such a high-profile event can be a little intimidating, however our students and staff are confident that we can help inspire the maker movement spirit as well as anyone,” he said. “That spirit is one of art and technology fused together, one informing the other to make new beautiful, surprising, maybe useful things.”

The Bay Area Maker Faire will be held this weekend at the San Mateo Event Center, located at 1346 Saratoga Drive. The event will last from 1 to 5 p.m., Friday, May 20; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 21; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, May 22.  Speakers will include Adam Savage from “Mythbusters” and Dan Shapiro, the CEO of 3-D laser printing company Glowforge. Tickets can be purchased at EventBrite.com. For more information, visit MakerFaire.com/Bay-Area.

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