With build season starting up in the fab lab, the robotics team prepares this year’s robot with the theme “reefscape” for the Mishawaka competition on Feb 28 to March 2. The reefscape theme is all about cleaning the reefs up in the environment. As the days pass by soon into February, the team figures out their plan to get the robot to resemble a coral reef.

“We’ve never had an environmental theme before, but it’s new and innovative,” senior president Anastasia Savic said. “This is going to be a really good season for FIRST overall, I’m very confident in my team and our capabilities to both have fun at the tournaments and do well.”

Height being the obstacle, the team’s goal is to have the speed, height and mobility in the game pieces they make for the robot with the main game being placement this year.

“It’s more than just building the robot, you have to strategize,” senior vice president Avrione Martin said. “That’s one of the cool parts of robotics, you are strategizing by thinking about how other teams are building their robots so that your robot can synergize with theirs.”

After brainstorming and running through different designs for the plan of the robot, the 3D building started on the program Onshape. Joining robotics for his first year of high school, freshman Luke Long helps build a hump that will connect the grabber for the ball-shaped algae and pipe of the robot. Long has been working on the 3D building after school.

“There haven’t been any major challenges yet, because we’re still in the planning phase,” Long said. “I hope there won’t be, but there might be later down the road.”