Since its renaissance in 2021, HC’s Robotics club has been flourishing. Sponsored by Ms. Stith, a HC Science Teacher, with president Ezekiel Drake, the robotics club is currently building their robots in preparation for competition.
“A lot of the designs students come up with are really impressive,” Stith said. “It’s a really awesome way to see engineering in real time, because constantly through the year, they have to build, they have to refine, try this, it doesn’t work, make it better, try it again, and go through that engineering process again. One day, it starts to drive, and. . . we can really start making improvements.”
The robot that the club is currently working on is a remote control car capable of playing soccer. Helen Rose, a member of the club, explains this years game.
“This year’s [competition] is soccer with acorn shaped Tri-Balls,” Rose said, “and you have to get them from one side to the other side of the field to get them under a goal. The robot has to be small enough to go into the goal. It’s bascially just soccer.”
Last years competition was frisbee golf, and the year before was a game called “Tipping Point,” where players would attempt to place rings on poles to score points.
Every team requires of a captain, a coder, and a driver. Drivers get the robot’s controller and control the bot. Coders handle the autonomous period of the bot, which consists the first fifteen seconds of the match, and the captain manages the team’s time and helps strategize.
“The basic outline of the vex competition is that every year there is a new game,” Rose said. “The new game has a video and a game manual, so you learn how to play the game, then you have to build a specific robot every year that does what the game requires. Every year you’re building a new robot. You build in the fall, but a lot of teams will build over the summer because [the game] releases in late spring at Worlds, and then you build your robot over the summer, a little into the fall, and competition season begins October or November, then goes through February or March.”
HC’s Robotics team currently has three teams, but would gladly welcome new members. A competition is being hosted at HC on November 18th. It will begin at nine A.M. and run through three in the afternoon.
“Here and there I’ll give a little bit of input,” Stith said, “but I try to keep it to a minimum, because [the club] is student centered. Nobody really knows about [this club], and then once you see it, you’re like, ‘Wow! That’s really cool.’”
Robotics Club is a thriving group that encourages learning and promotes innovation. They meet Thursdays in Rm. 142. The November 18th Competition will be an illuminating exhibition of the HC Robotics team, but if you want a first hand experience of the club, there’s no better way than to try it yourself.
