You might be surprised at the amount of collaboration behind robotics. But for members of Robotics Club, the time-intensive preparation and competition hold more than long code, meticulous calculation, and careful machining. Instead, it lays the foundation of teamwork and the edge of ambition.

Robotics is both a school club and a project-based class. Their time is spent primarily on perfecting the engineering process for two competitions: the F1 in Schools and the First Robotics Competition (FRC).

Robotics club president senior Ben Levine said, “We started this year with [the] F1 competition, which is kind of like Pinewood Derby. We had to work in teams of three to six and create little cars.”

This project began with the school year and culminated with a presentation of their budget, portfolio, and a race of the manufactured car in December.

Currently, the club is working on the First Robotics Competition. This year, their goal is to design a robot able to accomplish several tasks centered around the theme of Steamworks. Some of the challenges facing the team include launching fuel (wiffle balls) into a boiler (basket), hanging gears on hooks, and a finale of climbing up a rope. The design, manufacture, and test of this robot begins in January and is squeezed into a constrained timeline of six weeks – a deadline just shy of the March competition.

“[FRC] is a class competition,” Levine said, “That is getting a lot of the rookie people involved and learning machining, programming, outreach and the overall picture of robotics.”

The short timeline demands more than the time spent in the Robotics fifth hour class. From ordering the components, to dividing responsibilities, the club demands cohesiveness and dedication during school. In addition, time is spent at member Jacob Boehmer’s machine shop. But having multiple seniors on roster and being Perry Robotics’ fifth year competing, the club is well-groomed to the nature of the competition.

Looking forward to the upcoming FRC tournament, club vice president Kyle Johnston said, “We know the mistakes we made last year, so we know what improvements we can make.”