Robotics Club Gears up for annual competition

Started in 2008, the Robotics team has recruited 40 students dedicated to expanding their knowledge
of mechanical, electrical and computer engineering. As members of the Robotics team, students are required to think conceptually and mathematically.
Every year, the team enters the First Robotics Competition (FRC), an international competition that challenges students to expand their knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering. The FRC’s primary goal is to design and create a robot that meets the requirements of the prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. Six weeks before the competition begins, the annual challenge is announced at the kickoff ceremony. The objective of this year’s challenge Stronghold is to design a robot capable of going through obstacles such as bridges or gates. The team will be competing at the Long Beach Arena from March 9 to 11.
To prepare for FRC, the Robotics team participates in “build season,” when members work extensively on the Stronghold project for up to six hours a day.
“The team prepares for Stronghold by brainstorming ideas for what kind of robot would be best, as well as what strategy would be best, prototyping different aspects of our potential robot, building our robot and testing it,” freshman Robotics team member Jenna Vokolek said.

The Robotics team has subdivisions within the team that specialize in different areas of developing the robot. The subdivision consists of Build, Electronics, Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Business and Programming.
“Build is the largest team, and they physically build the robot [by] attaching all the nuts and bolts and hooking up the chains,” Vokolek said. “I like build [because] there’s always something being done. It is [intriguing to] be so close to the [physical] process of making the robot.”

Two years ago, the team won a creativity award at FRC. Last year, the Robotics team placed third of 66 teams in two of the competitions in the Los Angeles Regionals, one of the biggest tournaments in the world. The competition attracts international teams from countries like Chile and Canada. Through robotics, students strive to learn the value of sportsmanship and respect, and to discover their best strengths and interests. The team also allows students to apply their engineering knowledge in an interactive learning experience.
“I have learned a lot [about] teamwork and [learned from] experiences. I am really interested in [robotics] and I don’t think of it as working [but] more [of] doing something I love,” sophomore Shayla Patel said. “It is worth spending a lot of time on robotics because the outcome received followed by hard work is satisfactory.”