March of 2019 will be a huge month for the Robotics Club. They have two upcoming competitions that will test the skills of their new club. Their first competition will be on March 15th in Reading, and their second will be taking place on March 27th in Revere.

The Hamilton-Wenham Robotics Club was started this year by Mr. Shippen, and it now has more than 25 members. Sophia Szady and Richard Paul, both members of the Robotics Club, explained how a robot works. During our interview, Richard Paul explained what they will try to do during the competition, “There is a hatch panel […] we are taking that with the robot […] I am going to try and grab that and we are gonna try and attach it to the cargo ship […] and in doing that we will get points for our team.”

Despite their success building a working robot, it was a difficult process to put it together. Members of the Robotics Club had to work together to acquire the knowledge necessary to build the robot. They had to conduct research in order to attain enough of an understanding to start working on the robot.

Robotics Club member Richard Paul said, “Once you have the knowledge it is not that difficult, but what’s difficult about [building a robot] is trying to acquire the knowledge and also just trying to go in new directions.”

As a team, the club has had to put their brains together and test new things until something worked. They also had to keep changing and making adjustments to their robot so that it would function as well as possible.

The Robotics Club started this year with the goal of having their robot drive off the starting platform during a competition. After achieving this goal weeks before the competition, they have created a new goal. They are now focusing on scoring as many points as they can at the upcoming competitions. They hope to get points by having the robot pick up the hatch, move it, and attach it to the cargo ship.

Although focused on their competition, they are also thinking about the club afterwards, and their plans for both themselves and the robot. Sophia Szady explains that they hope to participate in other competitive events, but also look forward to having fun as a club in the future.

The Robotics Club is still welcoming new members to join. You can come with no prior knowledge as to what is involved in building a robot. Everyone is in the same boat as this is the club’s first year in action, making it a great year to join the Robotics Club.