Illustration by Selina Wang

Pinewood’s robotics team is constantly tinkering and working on their next big project. More students have become interested in robotics, as the school focuses more on computer science and technology programs. The team is a part of the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics program (FIRST), a league that provides the yearly challenges for its teams. For example, some challenges have included collecting cubes and bringing them to different areas, launching balls into tubes to score points, or stacking different objects in different zones. After receiving the challenge, the team must build robots to complete the necessary tasks. Teams compete to see which does the best.

“We get to do what we want, so it’s a pretty fun experience,” sophomore Sean Su, a recent recruit, said.

The team is broken down as such: There are two faculty mentors, several student leaders, and the rest of the team is separated by interest in fields such as programming, designing, or building. Members can choose to program, work with computer aided design (CAD), design hardware, or even help market the team. This array of options makes the team a viable club for many students, even those not necessarily interested in programming.

“We have roles for many different interests,” team mentor Will Rees said.

The robotics team’s season lasts all year long. During the fall, the team works on building core skills that they will need to succeed on the team, including getting comfortable with the software and tools that they will be using.

In January, the team starts to design and build their robot. This process takes several weeks, if not months, as robots must be fine tuned and ultra efficient to succeed in the tough sea of competition. A tournament is held in May where teams compete in challenges that their robots must conquer.