The robotics club at SRV has begun building this year’s robot for the First Robotics Competition challenge. The robot they build must be able to retrieve cones and cubes from substations, score them on the grid at their base, and balance themselves on the charge station. “The robots have to gather cones and cubed blocks and place them on a grid back at their starting pit,”said Mark Slanec, the teacher of the robotics club. There is a 125 pound weight limit for the robot and a size limit of no taller than 4 feet and no length wider than 120 inches.
Since 1989, SRV robotics meetings are held every 2 weeks at the engineering shop with Mr. Slanec. During club meetings, members discuss their robot’s new building design and how they will manufacture it. In club meetings, students discuss how they are doing on their robot and what needs to be improved on the robot.
They also discuss when the next meeting and training sessions should be scheduled. Club training sessions are held every week over the weekend on Saturdays at 4-5:30, also at the engineering shop with Mr. Slanec. During training, members are taught by the student instructors of their department how to access and use the tools necessary for their division.
The club is organized into 5 divisions; the Software department, the Mechanical Department, the Electrical Department, CAD, and business department.
“Each department has their own task that they are training towards for the FRC,” said Mr. Slanec.
The software department works on programming and coding the robot. They tell the robot what and how to do it. The Mechanical department works on physically building the robot and designing what it looks like. They work on building the base, arms, wheels and the elevator. The Electrical department works on the robots power supply and energy savings. They work on constructing the wires for the electricity run through and the robots whole power supply, including the battery model. CAD works on graphics design and drafting. They work on software design online and design all the parts of the robot for the mechanical department.
The business department is a group of around 5 people that advertise for their robot. They work on getting their robot name out in the community to increase the amount of donations for the robot. Our robot costs around $8,000. They need to collect more money than the robot actually costs, to cover up the amount for the robot plus money for the club.
The experience with robotics has motivated students to become leaders and inspire others to join the robotics community at San Ramon Valley High School. “Introducing new activities and expanding our community will help students feel at home,” said Liam Parti (10), the captain of the mechanical department.
At the most recent robotics club meeting at San Ramon Valley High School, the director of the club announced that training for robotics will start in November and Tournaments will start in March, Spring. Everybody who signed up for their position to build the robot will be taught the basics of design and functions during the training process.
About 20 students attend club meetings and training days. “Around 15 members are chosen by the robotics instructors to participate in the FRC championships. Members will be selected according to their effort, behavior, and determination,” said Warren Lin (10), captain of the electrical department.
“This Robotics competition has been a huge phenomenon across the world.” said Mr. Slanec, the teacher of the robotics club.
SRV students are excited for the First Robotics Competition which kicks off in Sacramento on Saturday January 6, 2024 and culminates in Fresno on Saturday April 20, 2024. It has been almost 31 years since the FRC began. Because of the FRC, more SRV students have been encouraged to participate in learning, critical thinking, and compete in the tournaments.
