ERHS Robotics Team is not Afraid of ERRORs
Written by Madeleine Blomkvist
Photo provided by Chinh Dao
When you hear the word, “robotics”, you may immediately think of engineering or robots. However, ERRORs 3130 is more than that. It is a close knit community of future engineers and people who love reaching out to their local community.
The robotics team consists of three different areas; the build team, the impact team, and the business team. The build team is in charge of building the actual robot that they take to the competitions. The impact team is also responsible for reaching out to their community, hosting outreach events and activities like that. It involves a lot of communication, as they must communicate a lot with people in their community. The business team is in charge of financing the team, keeping track of their spending, and helping with fundraising, as the robotics team is completely self-funded.
During the building season, the average member will put in about 18-20 hours per week. Eleanor Johnston explains, “our average team member goes in during build season about 18-20 hours a week, and off season we have shop time 3 times a week for 3 hours, but you can come and go as you can.” She also states, “I know we have a lot of kids that are in a band that are on our team, and there are commitments there where they are able to have a flexible schedule in robotics, so they can go to all of their band stuff.” During the building season, there is also time put aside to work on homework.
Time management is an important part of the Robotics program as well. As junior Audrey Vial explains, “If you are in a thousand clubs and activities, it’s going to be difficult. You need to find out what you are committing too.” Impact also counts as volunteer hours, which is always a plus.
Colleges also love it, as Eleanor Johnston explains, “They love hearing long term commitments.” Audrey Vial adds, “especially if you commit to all 4 years or around, like whenever you start and continue it.” FIRST robotics, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an international organization which specializes and runs competitions, leagues, and more. Many alumni also go to well known universities that specialize in engineering, including MIT and Carnegie Mellon.
You do not need any prior knowledge, so interested students are encouraged to sign up soon as registration closes October 27th.
