Robotics club members are gearing up for their very first Rocky Mountain BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) Competition this fall, October 26th. The team’s task requires the ability to build a fully functioning robot which will then complete specific tasks in front of a large panel of judges. As if the challenge didn’t already seem difficult enough, the team is only allowed to use limited materials to create their masterpiece.
As of now, the team is in the basic planning stages – creating one prototype after another. “Sometimes certain prototypes don’t work, so in order to combat unsuccessfulness we just continue to work and test,” said Sophomore Jenna Allen.
The team splits up the work in order to increase productivity and efficiency of the overall project. “It involves a lot of teamwork. Some people work on the arm, others the head, and so on. We then combine all our work, so we make this robot as a team,” said Allen.
Since this will be the Robotics Club first ever competition, tension and expectations run high among the club members. “The goal of our first competition is to just test the waters and see how we compete,” said Allen.
This being the first ever competition for Robotics Club has made the year “much more intense than past years. It is very nerve wracking to present your robot in front of a large panel of judges. It can be very overwhelming at times,” said Allen.
The BEST competition will be the only competition Robotics Club competes in this year, “so this is really our one big shot. It’s a lot of pressure to compete because if anything goes wrong, the robot won’t work. One little wire blows, and the whole project is down the drain,” said Allen.
Despite the high pressure environment, Allen knows “once I see the final product, it is very gratifying to know that my team has built a machine. It gives us lots of real-world experience with engineering.”
As Robotics Club prepares for competition, Allen summed up the whole of Robotic Club’s emotions best when she said, “I’m extremely excited for our final product, but at the same time very nervous.”