Robotics Club participates in first meet

 

By AJ Ballard |

The robotics team took part in their first meet at Nimitz Middle School on Saturday Dec. 10, and placed sixth out of fourteen schools. Their objective was to hit beacons, push a large ball off of its stand, and to launch smaller balls in order to rack up points. The first few matches were rough for the RoboRider, as it had been given some modifications before the matches began. During the last round of challenges, the driver, Kristian Plummer, hit more beacons than before and brought the team’s score up.

The robots prepare for work at the FTC competition at Nimitz. Photo by AJ Ballard

The robots prepare for work at the FTC competition at Nimitz. Photo by AJ Ballard

The Roosevelt FTC (First Tech Challenge) was started up by this year’s juniors during their freshman year. They have two co-captains, Sarah Poupart and Bella Ortiz, who each have experience in the subject.

“I’ve always loved to build: [with] cardboard, masking tape, [etc.]” said Poupart, “You give me something, and I’ll make something out of it. So you give me a box of parts and a challenge and some bolts [and I’ll make something out of it.]”

Bella Ortiz is now one of the programmers of the robots made here at our school, and is one of the original members of the club. She has had a history of programming, even making a robot sneeze when she was only a fourth grader.

With these two girls as their co-captains, the robotics team is pushed to be hard working and efficient in their jobs, whether it be programming, coding, or the building of the robot. The team’s next meet is on January, and their goal is to take first this time, with the modifications they’ve made to the RoboRider.