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By Aubrey Beashore

Launching the blue ball up into the basket, the robotics team competes Saturday, March 26 at Lee’s Summit North where the team placed 14th.

After a long season of designing, constructing and building their robot, the Robotics team competed at their first in-person competition since 2020 at Lee’s Summit North in the Greater Kansas City Regional. The team ranked 14th overall and made it to quarterfinals being a part of the seventh seed alliance Thursday, March 24 to Saturday, March 26. Robotics sponsor Neil McLeod explained what the club entails.

“Robotics is a team-based activity where a robot is designed, built, tested and completed within a three month time frame by a dedicated group of students,” McLeod said. “We are in an entirely new location with entirely new resources. Additionally, the team is larger than it has possibly ever been.” 

Within the Robotics club, there are different teams that consist of members who are responsible for that specific aspect of the robot. Senior Ryan Layton described his role in Robotics and what his team does. 

“I am the co-president of the team and I run a lot of the behind the scenes type stuff in the production of the robot. I am also a member of the mechanical team,” Layton said. “The mechanical team builds the physical part of the robot and everything besides the electrical components is our team.”

With the sources available at the Cedar Trails Exploration Center (CTEC), the Robotics team had the ability to work with much more advanced resources than in years past. McLeod shared the benefits of using those resources at CTEC.

“CTEC has been a great benefit. We’ve been able to use the router, mills, tools, computers and so much more. It’s easy to see how this robot has performed and how much of an effect it’s already had,” McLeod said. “I’m confident that we will become a powerhouse team in just a few short years.”

By having more resources readily available to them, the team grew excited for their first competition of the season. Layton expressed his overall feelings while at the competition at Lee’s Summit North where they were ranked 14th overall. 

“I was very excited during the competition because this year we had a very competitive robot and I was able to drive during the competition,” Layton said. “We didn’t have too many challenges at the competition itself. Our robot held up really well under pressure and required very minor repairs.”