By Seth Pickens
Features Editor
In May of 2022, Mira Costa’s Robotics Club began to work on its frisbee robot for the VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) that they compete in annually.
Every year, VEX hosts a competition where middle and high schoolers design and build robots. This year, students will compete in a game of “robot-frisbee’’ for the chance to compete in the national championships. The competition was announced in May, and the first round is being held tomorrow.
“It’s a competition between high school and middle school-level teams where they build robots for a game,” sophomore Samuel Safa said. “There are different point systems for innovation, creativity, and how mechanically sound your robot is. If you place high enough in the competition, you move on to the next step.”
Safa and sophomore Noah Weiss are the head builders of practical parts of the robot. The game of frisbee requires two robots from each team, so Safa is responsible for the majority of the building of the first robot, and Weiss is responsible for the second. The other members have taken on the role of handling the logistics.
“The club is split into two teams, and both teams are working on a robot for the VEX competition,” Weiss said. “Each of the two teams has a leader and other sub-leaders. I am [good with the] mechanical aspect, so I do designing and building. Meanwhile, the programmers write the codes that allow us to control the robots.”
According to Weiss, the club struggled in earlier years, as it wasn’t organized, so they would often be behind schedule with one or more of their robots. They created the new team system to have better control over production. In addition, they are upgrading their robot so it has better speed and shooting range.
“Previously, we had placed 22nd out of 24 competitors, [but] this year there are about 37,” said Weiss. “We increased the RPM of our frisbee shooter and got more flexible wheels. We’re expecting to do a lot better than last year.”
Even through all its struggles, the Robotics Club has persevered and is ready to take on any challenge. They are constantly working on their robot to make it more efficient and optimal.
“We are ready to face any unforeseen challenges that come up, and according to Murphy’s Law, there’s going to be a lot.” Safta said. “We’re going to push through it and have a great robot for competition. With all our improvements; we know we can win.”
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