NEWS.
Gearing Up Sion’s robotics team gained traction this year as they move past the restrictions that came with COVID and prepare to compete in the qualifier competitions. BY ELLA ALEXANDER COPY EDITOR
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MIGHTY MACHINE As the robot places the cone onto the pole, the robotics team celebrates the success at an early morning Wednesday practice. “It’s really cool to see the stuff we’re building actually work,” senior Lauren Millard said. “Getting to compete against other teams and their robots.” PHOTO | ELLA ALEXANDER
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ion’s robotics team has progressed over the years and ranks seventh in their league. Their season began in early August, when their competition league, ‘FIRST Robotics,’ released a video detailing the challenges each robot must complete in order to earn points. Each year, there is a different game; this year, the game board, which is 45” by 95”, is filled with tall rods of various heights. In order to score points, the robot must place a cone on top of each rod. First the team watches the video and builds the game board in their own space. Next, they plan what they want their robot to look like, strategize on how to earn the most points and then start building. “Building is definitely continuous; things fall apart, you put it back together, you decide to change something so you have to rebuild it,” sophomore Ella Satterwhite said. “Ideally it would all happen in the beginning of the season, however that’s not reality.” Once the robot is put together, the next step is to start programming. The robot is programmed for the autonomous period, a 30 second period during a match in which the team is not allowed to touch or control the robot. “Sometimes autonomous periods can go bad, I mean we’ve had robots flip over, robots stop working, or sometimes they will stop in a really awkward place,” Satterwhite said. “If the other robots run into them, there’s all kinds of things that can happen. It’s very exciting.” For the remaining two minutes of the match, the robot is hand-controlled by an Xbox controller. The controller is connected to a “driver’s station,” which is similar to an iPad. The station is connected to a receiving box on the robot allowing the Xbox controller to drive it. “We never quite feel ready to drive the robot at competition, so it’s just kind of like we’ll do our best once we’re in it,” senior Lauren Millard said. “Driving is usually a little bit stressful but you’ve got your team. You can have up to two drivers at a competition. So far we’ve only had one, but hopefully we will have two at the next competition, one to work the wheels and the other to work the arm.” In addition to the driver, each team is allowed a coach at the competition. The coach guides the drivers, gives them strategies during the game, makes sure that the driver is going to the right spot and helps them adjust when needed. “The coach is basically the eyes and the strategist,” sophomore Becca Houlehan said. “Coaching at meets is so much fun. Although it may be stressful at times, it’s worth it.”