Warriors’ robotics team demonstrates newest robot

BY JUN STARKEY

The Carpinteria Unified School District Board of Trustees got a first look at the Carpinteria High School robotics team’s robot at its meeting last week. The team and its advisor, George Cadiente, went over recent accomplishments and some goals for the previous and upcoming school years.

The team recently received the Motivate Award during the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Tech Challenge, which Cadiente described as the “middle level” of the robotics competition, in late February.

Goals for the 2023-24 school year, Cadiente said, include expanding the program to create one or two Carpinteria Middle School teams. This will be done through recruiting enough students to have 10 per team, recruiting parent volunteers, industry professional volunteers and teachers.

Five students from the Warriors Robotics team spoke about their experiences and what they learned while in the program. Students said they improved their software and communication skills, and focused on team building, problem solving and networking with other students and instructors.

Later in the meeting, students demonstrated how the robot moves, controlled through a gaming console controller via WiFi signal. The rotating wheels allow the robot to spin in complete circles while staying in place, which came in handy for competitions involving moving or avoiding obstacles. The robot also has a large claw that extends out from the top.

“This is really the application for robotics,” said board member Andy Sheaffer. “The fact that you guys are getting in now and you’re learning about it and you’re enthusiastic, is going to pay off huge in the future.”

Students also went over challenges they faced while building their robot, including issues with getting the motor to start and securing pieces of the robot in place. At recent competitions, they faced issues with meeting the requirements for tournaments, the robot’s claw breaking twice, a misunderstanding of a manual and learning time management with other courses.

The team’s favorite part of their robot, they said, were the wheels, which were a challenge to place and code. Once students got the hang of them, it was fun to drive around, they said. “Driving at the beginning was rough… our robot was only able to push stuff ,” said student Evelyn Calkins. “But then throughout every tournament, we were progressing more and more.”

Warrants

The board approved the warrant for the period of Feb. 10 through Feb. 24, in the amount of $611,357.95.