Imagine sitting in a room filled with monitors, blinking lights, and the natural buzz of enthusiastic classmates all working toward a common goal: to build their knowledge in the field of robotics while building a robot that will win competitions.
Robotics is not an average school club. Students are not just learning about technology, they’re learning to work with others and cooperate within teams.
Their practices serve as innovative hubs where aspiring engineers, programmers, technicians, and dreamers come together to turn their abstract concepts into reality, all while expressing their passion for STEM.
In practice, everyone contributes. No matter what you’re assigned you have an influence on how the robot can perform when it comes to a match. However, only six people are truly competing. The “Drive Team” consists of six members; the ones who are really running the robot during the competitions. Although most think that this means that those six are playing “Battle-Bots” against another robot, it’s very different.
Interviewing seniors Nate Rommal, Nate Reith, Pete Sullivan, and Aaryan Sagar, Robotics is centered towards making it a lasting and valuable experience for those who enter. The four, who’ve done robotics for multiple years now, all mutually agreed that they’ve learned multiple skills through the club itself. The four teach younger club members how to build from scratch, all about programming, and how to efficiently communicate with others.
“A key aspect is that most of the items we use are close to everyday items, it helps anyone who decides to join to build up necessary skills needed that you might not get in another club,” Rommal said. Robotics begins to first meet in the middle of October, having a mandatory meeting in Old Lyme where they go over the basis of what will happen in practices and meetings. Anyone in East Lyme can join, and it’s always set to be introduced in the September’s club fair.
Speaking to Sullivan, the main reasons why people should join Robotics is for the life skills that come with it.
Being in such a unique environment of passionate kids your age, you feel more welcome to express yourself and show what you can do for the team. Compared to sports, Robotics doesn’t take a competitive approach. Although you’re competing with opponents score-wise, they tend to grow bonds and help each other grow as everyone all has the same end goal.
“One of the biggest differences that robotics has compared to other sports is that the competitions are not all that competitive. You develop bonds with other teams, talking about how happy you are with how your robot turned out and sharing it with the others,” Reith said.
