With the end of the first semester quickly approaching, many clubs and sports are gearing up for a busy second semester. Among them is the robotics team run by science teacher Neil McLeod. During spring break, the robotics team will be hosting the first competition of the year at the school.
Senior Carter Tollman, who has been in the robotics club for three years, believes that hosting a com
petition again will boost the robotics club.
“For a long time, we’ve needed a lot of funding, but last year we hosted a regional [competition] at Mill Valley. That really helped us fundraise a lot of money,” Tollman said.
Robotics competitions usually last for upwards of three days with each day having a specific purpose. The first day usually doesn’t consist of any actual competitions, but rather it gives time for the teams to prepare and practice.
“Friday is when you start your qualification matches. And so at most competitions, you’ll play between 10 to 14 qualification matches, and this is how they determine your ranking. Those matches will go all the way to Sunday, normally around nine or 10 p.m.,” Tollman said.
A single robotics club team is made up of upwards of 60 people. However, the team is separated into different areas of work.
“We’ve got to diversify and have people figure out where they need to [be to] get things done. We’ve got a business sub team, and they’re dedicated to doing social media, fundraising, graphics, T-shirts, any type of outreach we do,” Tollman said.
Beyond the business team there are other groups who work on the functions of the actual robots.
“We’ve got a design and CAD team, and so they do all of the design and CAD of the robot. So they digitally make the robot so that all of the manufacturing students, which is another team, can follow that digital creation and make it a reality. And then we’ve got an electrical team, and so they do all of our motors and all of our control boards, and they wire all that up and put it on the robot. And then finally, we have our programming team, and they’re the ones who program the robot to make it all work,” Tollman said.
Even with a multitude of people with different personalities, the team is able to maintain a good environment. Senior Ethan Hartshorne, who has spent the past year and a half in the club, has seen the open but hard working environment firsthand.
“[The atmosphere is] welcoming, but it can also be stressful ”Harshorne said. “You and like 65 other people having to get stuff done, and you’re all either working on something together, or you’ll have your independent projects you have to get done [which can be stressful].”
The welcoming environment of the robotics club is not solely for STEM students. Tollman has met several people through the club without a past in STEM.
“If anyone is interested in joining robotics you don’t need to even be a STEM student,” Tollman said. “[For example,] if you’re an auto STEM student you can join. But if that’s not something that interests you, you can join the business sub team and there’s other sub teams where there are places for students who aren’t as focused on STEM. There’s a spot for almost anyone on the team.”
