Circuits whirring, engines humming to life, rubber wheels on the hardwood floor. Robotics is a long-running class that teaches students engineering, design and other skills that they use in their daily lives.

Robotics teacher Curt Taylor helps students learn how to design, build, and program robots to do various tasks for competitions all around the state, and everyone has a certain job on the team.

“Some people are part of the marketing team where they introduce us, [and] some people help build or code the robot,” junior Dietrich Jost said.

Every year, the team participates in multiple competitions around the state where their skills are put to the test.

“[Judging] is based on what tasks get done by the robot in the time frame allotted,” junior Ethan Stewart said. “It’s pretty hectic. There’s a lot of people running around, a lot of things going on at the same time.There’s marketing meetings, there’s dry runs, or practice runs, in separate buildings, there’s these exhibits or exhibitions all in different places, so everybody’s just running around.”  

There is a lot that goes into preparing for a competition, from designing the robot to making sure the programming and circuits are in place and even more.

“There’s quite a bit,” senior and main programmer Raymond Brown said.”We have to read the [program], make sure everything is in compliance. There’s a lot of preparation with the programming. I gotta make sure everything works properly, stress testing the program, making sure everything is organized properly.”

Despite the work and planning that goes into making the robot, students involved say it is a fun and engaging activity where many amazing memories are made, in and out of the competition.

“We pulled, like, four tables into our hotel room and played ping pong with people from other schools,” junior Elliot Blackwood said.