Are you someone who likes engineering, designing, competing, and robots? If so, then robotics is the club for you! Robotics club is about designing and engineering literal robots that can effectively accomplish the task given each year.

The task changes yearly and common throughout the whole nation. They work on the same task all year long and constantly make adjustments and changes to make their robots even better and more efficient. 

This year’s challenge sounds like a fun one! Parker Jansen, a student on the team stated, “This year's challenge is interesting because the main method of scoring is completely unique. We have to be able to shoot or throw discs at targets of varying heights which is very dynamic compared to previous years. It will be extremely interesting to see how everyone decides to solve this challenge and then have some extra friendly competition to see who can shoot them the fastest.”

These enthusiastic young engineers compete against other teams to see who can do the challenge best. The competitions vary. They have duals, which is our school going against another school, tournaments, state championships, nationals, and world championships. Our team’s next competition is coming up sometime in October.

The students have an “engineering notebook,” as Mr. Townsend called it. They have to keep track of all the changes they make on their robot in these notebooks. At their competitions, they get scored on those notebooks as well as how well their robots can accomplish the task at hand. Another student on the team, Victoria Dannelly, mentioned that the notebook is the hardest part about robotics. She stated, “It is a very tedious process that requires constant attention and editing.”

The team meets after school every Monday. During that time is when they make the adjustments to the robot. After they make adjustments, they test the robot’s ability to complete the challenge in the arena they have set up.

Jansen continued, “The only other thing I really want to tell everyone is to just try it out for yourself. Even if you think that it isn't for you or that you could never build a robot like that, you should still try. It is surprisingly easy once you have some experience under your belt and it gives you skills that you can carry with you your entire life. Our practice schedule is also very flexible, so if you just don't think you can squeeze it in your schedule, maybe reconsider and contact one of our coaches (Mr. Townsend and Mr. Whitmore) to talk about your situation. I guarantee that they will work with you and it will be one of your favorite times of the week.”

“My least favorite part is having to leave practice after we have had a really successful and productive day. It makes you want to stay and keep working to get everything done.” Victoria Dannelly stated. Both students mentioned how their favorite part is how much creativity is involved and working with the other young engineers on the team. 

As mentioned earlier, Robotics meets after school, every Monday, from 5-8 p.m. Contact Mr. Townsend or Mr. Whitmore for more information about joining and how you can be involved.

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