Robotics Club prepares for regional competition

The Robotics Club is heading to regional competition in Nampa, Idaho March 30-April 1. The club has been in the process of building robots since the competition theme was announced in January.
The team heading to the regionals includes Kaden Crosby, Elizabeth Wilcoxson, Cole Lockart, Deagan Everett, Josiah Werner, Benjamin Harris and Ben Crawford. They will enter their robots in a series of competitions to determine if each one qualifies for the national competition in Houston, Texas.
The club meets every Tuesday throughout the school year from 3-8 p.m. in the DeAtley Center. At these meetings, Glen Riley, an employee at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, helps the club code and create their robots.
Since January, the club has added Thursday meetings as well. The students have not stopped meeting throughout the year but have instead been creating parts that will better enhance their robot for this year’s competition.
“They upgraded the system so that the top part — the shooting mechanism — can run completely autonomous from the base and the drive wheels,” said Cyrina Lockart, the club adviser.
The robots are about 2 ½ ft. wide and 4 ft. high and require many parts to build. To pay for these parts, the club has had fundraisers and acquired grants.
The competition requires that for the first 15 seconds of a match, the robot works independent of its driver to score preloaded game pieces, collect new game pieces and engage with its charging station. For the next two minutes and 15 seconds, drivers control their robots to collect cones and cubes and bring them back to their “community” or base. The goal is to earn as many points as possible within the time frame of 2 minutes and 30 seconds.