With the building and designing portion of the season behind them, Orcutt Academy High School’s robotics team, FIRST 3512 Spartatroniks, can only wait to display their new robot in competition. Antikythera, which owes its name to the earliest known computing device, was completed in February and is gearing up for competitions later in March.
More than 83,000 students all across the world are preparing for a unique format set out by FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), the international youth organization that organizes robotics competitions in several age divisions.
This year’s game involves teams of three robots preparing an airship to launch using steam power. Each team of three scores points by how well they harness the steam pressure, as well as their ability to start the rotors and board the robots onto the airship.
Every school is given a kit of parts for the motor, batteries, control system components, construction materials, and some automation components. With only limited instructions, students must work tirelessly to complete a successful robot.
Within this year’s game, titled Steamworks, robots are also judged on three general categories: gears, climbing, and Wiffle-ball shooting. Spartatroniks has chosen to focus on two of those with Antikythera, according to Orcutt Academy senior and captain of the team, Joshua Hughes.
“Of the three main tasks, we decided to focus on two with our robot,” Hughes said. “We focused on gears and climbing this year, and really tried to master the gear portion by adding some extra capabilities.”
The time period spent constructing the robot is the same for all of the 3,336 participating schools. Teams start building in mid-January and are required to finish by Feb. 21. No modifications are allowed on the robots until the competitions are underway.
For Orcutt Academy’s Spartatroniks, that last day is usually one of relief and recognition. The team hosted a “Bag-Up Party” on Feb. 21, where Antikythera was put through the obstacles expected in competition in front of fellow students, parents, and supporters. In order to abide by the rules, the robot was sealed in a bag at the end of the night, and hasn’t come out since.
Faculty Advisor Ty Fredricks said the credit for the completion of this year’s robot goes to the work ethic of Orcutt Academy’s students and staff.
“Our team members and mentors have invested thousands of hours into this robot,” Fredricks said, “and soon we will get to see how we measure up with the rest of the world.”
FIRST has developed into a truly international organization. Teams in countries such as Australia, Turkey, China, Israel, and Mexico witnessed the Robotics Competition Kickoff in January. With what promises to be a highly competitive field, Fredricks maintains that Orcutt may face their stiffest competition close to home.
“Some of the toughest teams in the world are right here in California,” he said, “where we go to regional competitions next month.”
Orcutt Academy will be one of many schools vying for recognition from the judging panels at FIRST regional tournaments in Southern California this March. Whether or not the school of roughly 600 students proves successful is hardly a matter of concern.
Spartatroniks has already gone the extra mile in order to prepare for this season. While the stringent rules of the game prohibit schools from touching their robot in the preceding weeks until competition time, Orcutt Academy ensured they would have ample time to rehearse by creating a second robot.
“We can’t touch [Antikythera] until competition, so to make up for that fact we built a second robot so our programmers, software designers, and drivers can practice with it and work out some kinks before competition,” Hughes said.
Many schools regard robotics simply as a club, but at Orcutt Academy, the Spartatroniks team is considered an official varsity sport. What started as a few hours per week program for students has grown into a robust organization filled with committed students.
Members of Spartatroniks are often expected to engage in fundraisers and community outreach, Fredricks explained. Orcutt Academy does not officially fund the program, but the team manages to raise the tens of thousands of dollars necessary to fund the club itself.
After more than three years with the team, Hughes has as good a perspective as any on the evolution of an interesting local program. Teachers and advisors play a key role in the success of Spartatroniks, but the team ultimately relies on its students.
“It is almost completely student-run,” he said. “We do have the mentors there to make sure everyone uses the tools safely and help acclimate younger students. We try to vote as a group on major decisions for the team, like the decision this year to focus on gears.”
Sports contributor Keenan Donath can be reached through Managing Editor Joe Payne at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 2-9, 2017.