The robot that the team has created is decorated with a Spartan license plate. photo by Baxter Stein
The robotics team makes headway to the First Robotics Competition.
TJ robotics teacher Matt Santambrogio and the robotics team are headed to the First Robotics Competition (FRC) yet again. Despite being titled First Robotics Competition, the competition began in 1992 and has since then been held annually. It is one of the biggest events in high school robotics, and is the capstone project for the robotics CCTM pathway. The competition consists of building and programming industrial scale robots, weighing up to 120 pounds and reaching speeds of 20 mph. Teams face a tight, six-week deadline to design and create a robot to compete against other teams. The challenge varies from year to year, but the current challenge is based on space travel and the logistics of loading and unloading cargo from a spacecraft.
In order to apply for TJ’s robotics team, students must complete the intro to robotics class along with the advanced class to be placed on the FRC team. The team primarily consists of juniors and seniors; however, they are always looking to bring in new people who are interested. FRC begins with a six week build season starting on January 5th, leading up to the regional competition which begins March 21st. During this time, the team plans, prototypes, fabricates, and programs a robot that is able to perform well at competition. “The hardest part about the competition is making the design become a reality and more than just a design,” stated junior Houston Hood. Most years, the challenge requires the robot to meet a variety of goals, so the team has to construct an ambitiously versatile robot, keeping in mind that they must make all of these decisions before the deadline of the build season.
After build season, the regional competition begins. During this event, the team will compete in groups of three schools to score points and move up in overall ranking. This year they seem fairly confident heading into competition, “This is probably the best robot we have built in the past three years, or at least since I have been here,” said Hood. In the end, the alliance of the top three robots moves on to the championship in Houston, Texas. The regional competition will be held March 21st through the 23rd at the University of Denver. If Sparta Robotica places in the top three, they will participate in the national championship held April 17th through the 20th.
Make sure to go check out the competition and support the Spartans!
