Robotics club expects a boost from new STEM building
EL CENTRO — Students are still getting the feel for Central Union High School’s new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) building, but at least one group is enthusiastic about the potential edge it may give them in experience and skill level.
Central’s Robotics
Team competed March 17-20 against 51 other schools at the San Diego Regional robotics competition at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. It was the Spartans’ first robotics competition in two years, and at stake was a chance to participate in the FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston, Texas.
The Central squad’s task, in brief, was to create a robot that could pick up balls roughly the size of a volleyball and launch them through a hoop. The team finished 33rd in the competition, hampered in part by a conveyance system for the balls that wasn’t quite as reliable as hoped and a power system that failed them completely by the competition’s second day.
CUHS engineering teacher Alex Ortiz, who took over as team advisor this year, said he marveled at the level of competition.
“I saw robots that looked like NASA had built them,” he said. “Everything was so precise.”
That’s an example of where the Central’s new STEM building is expected to make an impact. Because the building didn’t open until February, the Robotics Team, which consisted of about a dozen members, wasn’t able to get much use from it in creating their project for the regional contest.
“We didn’t have much equipment (available),” said Manuel Chi, a junior who’s finishing his first year at Central.
Chi essentially learned how to use the computer-aided design (CAD) program Fusion 360 on his own through trial and error and watching YouTube videos in order to complete the technical drawing of his team’s entry.
As well as he did, there were glitches, which advisor Ortiz attributed to “designing as we build versus designing to build.”
That led to mechanical issues and waste.
“We used up a lot of material,” freshman Diego Valdes admitted.
The team and their advisor expect better results for 2022-23.
For one thing, they’ll have the benefit of this year’s experience to help guide them. For another, they’ll have much greater access to the computers and fabrication equipment in the STEM building.
What’s more, not only will robotics be available as an extracurricular activity, it will be incorporated into the new classes offered this fall at Central. The Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) class is intended to complement CUHS’ new CTE engineering pathway and to allow student to engage fully with the new equipment in the STEM building.
The school said students will be exposed to experiences typically seen only in colleges and universities.
Ortiz said he’s hoping for an enrollment of about 25 students.
As for Chi, who’s expected to be next year’s Robotics Team president, he said he likes the team’s chances going forward.
“I’m confident we’ll be more competitive,” he said.