By Mary O’KEEFE

Local high schools’ robotic teams have been busy the last six weeks building robots to compete in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competition.

Each year the robotic team members of Crescenta Valley, Clark Magnet and La Cañada high schools sit in front of a computer, or television, screen to hear what the FIRST challenge will be – a basketball type game or maybe tic-tac-toe. Whatever the game, they listen and then immediately start working on how they will play the game and what type of robot they will need to play it.

The team first meets as a group, all sharing ideas of how they will approach the game; but then it comes down to making the robot, testing it and driving it during the competition.

CV Weekly went to CVHS to find out how they build the robot from the ground up, and what we found was that the team works as a whole made up of separate specialty areas. What we also found that from math wiz to gearhead there is a place for everyone in robotics.

It starts with CAD (Computer-Aided Design).

“Basically, when the design group finishes talking about what they want to do … what they want the robot to look like … we come in here and start the 3D modeling,” said Kevin Strawn, part of the CAD division of the CVHS 589 Falkons robotics.

He pointed to a design on the computer that the CAD group came up with.

“We create all the parts, all the functions, and we integrate them to see how the whole robot works. We make sure there are no problems and from there we make a bunch of drawings and send them off to Fab (fabrication group),” he said.

Tony Kim, another CAD member, said that they start with a basic design that has come out of a series of discussions with the teams. Then that concept is brought to CAD.

“Our job here is to figure out what exactly are the pieces we are going to make and how do we fit it into the robot,” he said.

Those who enjoy CAD work have a few things in common.

“[A] CAD [person] is someone who knows enough about what is needed to go on a robot but also someone who is creative enough to make the robot,” Strawn said.

A CAD member is someone who likes to invent and create but also knows how physics works, he added.

“You also have to be very nitpicky because one mistake could lead to bigger mistakes that we never like to see,” Kim added.

Once the 3D model is completed, it is sent along to Fabrication. This is the crew that is hands-on building.

“I think collectively all of us came together because we like to build. I think we like putting things together,” said Riley Duarte. “We make it, we put it together.”

So the parts that are found on the design are created by Fabrication. The team learns, through the help of their mentor Rob Miller, how to use tools safely.

Before they begin, Miller holds a safety class for the entire robotics team, and then all are looking out for one and other. So if someone forgets to wear their safety glasses while in the shop they are reminded to do so.

The group works mainly with aluminum but also with steel and Plexiglas. They use welding equipment, band saws, a grinder and milling … lots of milling according to the members.

“We are assigned certain pieces, like this is a battery box that goes to the chaise,” Duarte said. “Mr. Miller assigns a task for everyone. Once we are finished with the pieces they go to welding,” he said. “Everything we need for the robot is here.”

CAD and Fabrication work together closely, being able to check with each other in case there are problems; however, Duarte said the CAD design is pretty exact and Fabrication translates the design to real pieces usually without issue.

Fabrication members usually work in pairs because this provides not only an extra set of hands but an extra set of eyes too.

The welding section is where all of the pieces of the robot puzzle are put together, Duarte added.

Some boys and girls come into the Fabrication program with experience but others have never even seen welding equipment before. But by the end of the six weeks all are skilled in their fields.

Next week we will follow the robot as it continues to be built by these future scientists and engineers. We will also find out from Clark Magnet and La Cañada high schools how they prepare for the day of competition, and how they deal with any and all issues that occur.

  Mary Okeefe