The Robotics Team recently began its season with a weekend long kick-off, which involved watching the reveal of this year’s Design Topic and brainstorming ideas for what the robot’s central functions should be.
With the impending FIRST Missouri Regionals robotics competition, robotics team members have begun preparing for their first in-person competition since 2020. However, preparations can be difficult with so little time to design and build. Many people involved in the process of building the robot struggle to agree on design choices and on how to educate new team members. Despite the struggle to figure out how to initiate new members, it’s easy to join. Brett Gieras (‘23), the spirit and marketing captain and three-year team member, reflects on her reason for joining.
“I wanted to learn more about science,” she said. “I’ve learned about science, but I’ve also learned a lot about teamwork, and STEAM. Being a girl on the robotics team has affected my life; I’ve been able to stand up for myself and become less shy. I’m super excited about build season starting.”
Other girls on the team have had similar experiences. “Robotics has given me a community where I can be the person I want to be, instead of being shy. As a woman in STEAM, I feel more empowered to pursue the things I’m interested in,” said Caroline Fry (‘22), the co-director of scouting and two-year team member. “It has taught me the invaluable skill of programming, and given me a new hobby. I’ve been able to forge new relationships from the amount of time I spend on it.”
While the central objectives of the competition remain similar, the theme changes every year, and teams must build a new robot. Two years ago, the theme was Infinite Recharge, where the teams were tasked with collecting “power cells,” small rubber balls, which were redeemable for points.
This year, the Theme is Rapid React, where teams need to shoot the same rubber balls into a series of platforms, and hoist the robot onto four separate rungs.
If Barstow students are interested in joining the team, however, they don’t need a lot of experience, or even an invitation. “I saw some people in the bio room and was interested in what they were doing,” said Charlie Hisle (‘23), a three-year team member. “Since everyone on the team is so welcoming, it was easy for me to get involved.” Hisle ‘23 has since become a scouting lead on the team, and invests lots of time teaching new members.
Sriram Pattabiraman (‘24), scouting co-director, agrees. “On my first day I dropped a Pi, it broke and I bent a pin. But the person who was head of the scouting team at the time was happy, because I could find the things that go wrong by breaking them early. It’s a big thing in engineering to break things early, that way you can fix them sooner rather than later,” he recalls.
The Barstow robotics team meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-5:30 and accepts all new members from grades 8th-12th.
