Football fans love it when their team scores a touchdown. At Harrison High School, Raider fans enjoy it even more with the addition of DOUG, the Rowdy Raider Robot. When the team finds the end zone, the robot launches t-shirts into the student section of A.J. Rickard Field.

The t-shirt launching robot is the work of the Harrison Boiler Robotics 1747. DOUG gets his name from longtime club mentor Doug Klumpe who recently retired. Crew leader Sean Sharp says the drive train was already built by past members, but the t-shirt cannon is a module they have been modifying to become a crowd pleaser.

“We created it by doing some research on t-shirt cannons and found a basic design that we then used,” says Sean. “Originally our cannon had an air tank on it that limited the number of shots. Now, we have an air compressor which allows us to fire off as many shots as we want. This was created because we wanted something that we could bring to school events and show off our robotic capabilities to the whole school.”

“We hope people see that robots come in many different forms and it is something they can build themselves if they put the time in,” says team sponsor TJ McFadden. “We like inspiring the younger generations and helping them get excited about robotics.”

Watch for DOUG at home football and basketball games at Harrison High School.