The robotics team is getting ready to make a run at the state championships for 2018.  The season started on January 6, and the team has already begun building a practice robot.  

“It usually starts in the beginning of the year, and we have six weeks to build before our first competition,” said Jackson Bahm, a captain of the school’s team, the Bionic Blackhawks.                

However, the team has a lot to do before their first competition.  Each member of the team has a different role, and many people are doing many different things.  

“There are many different roles on the robotics team.  Many students work on different parts of the robot.  There is a CAD (computer aided design) team who designs the robot and all of its components on a computer and tests the design there before we build.  There is the main build team who fabricates and assembles all of the parts on the robot.  Next, there is the electrical team that wires all of the onboard electronics such as motors, sensors, computers, and communication devices.  Finally, there is the programming team (what I do) that writes all of the code to get the robot to perform all of the various tasks that it needs to do both autonomously and driver controlled,” said Bahm.

Overall, the team is very busy right now, and they must finish the robot before the six weeks are up as they are not allowed to touch it afterwards.  While the team may seem like hard work, many think that it is well rewarded.

“Robotics is the best program that I have ever been involved in. It allows me to work with other who have similar interests and it is a great community of people,” said Bahm.