For the second time ever, students at UC High have formed the UC High Robotics Club, and this year, there will be big changes.
There has been a huge increase in participation and interest in the UC High Robotics Club. According to Team Coach Roger Gallegos, the club was previously made up of only 12 to 15 freshmen and has more than doubled to 40 students in all grades.
The position of Club Advisor has changed from Marine Science and Physics Teacher Susan Hooker, to Design and Engineering Teacher James Richardson. The coaches include Gallegos and Programmer Charles Rightmyer. Club members have been selected to leadership positions. These students include President Diego Verdugo, Vice President JP Ducut, Secretary Saleh Rafeeq, and Treasurer Andre Domingo, according to Richardson.
No previous programming or robotics experience is required to join the club, according to Rightmyer. Rightmyer said that each member “…should plan on an investment of 3-4 hours of effort each week over a period of about 10 weeks.” The UC High Robotics Club will also have a follow-up class that will teach each member “…the fundamentals of C++ programming at a detailed level.”
According to Richardson, club meetings will take place after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays for one hour and on Wednesdays for three hours.
“This year, instead of just one single team, there will be two (maybe even three) teams,” said Gallegos. These teams will be able to compete in events such as the upcoming First Technical Challenge (FTC) Robotic Building and Designing Competition, according to Gallegos.
According to a PowerPoint presentation by Rightmyer, the FTC Competition is a competitive robotics event where each team will build, program, and control their own robot.
The FTC Competition includes team members that have been building and programming robots since the third grade, according to Rightmyer’s PowerPoint. He added that building the robot involves teams modifying a baseline robot to their required specifications.
Programming involves using programs such as Java and Android Studio to control their robots remotely. Controlling the robot involves using a robot controller that is connected to the driver station (via Wi-Fi direct connection). From the driver’s station, two club members will be controlling the robot, according to Rightmyer’s PowerPoint.
The main goal of the UC High Robotics Club, according to Rightmyer, is to learn the basics of robot building and programming as well as introduce students to a technical skill and a possible career choice.
According to Verdugo, joining is a “…great opportunity for learning about engineering and teamwork.”