Liberty’s Robotics Club team 11475B placed second in the California Region 3 Vex Robotics Competition with its “alliance” team from Centennial High School last weekend at Cal State Bakersfield. The team will travel to Dallas to participate in the Vex World Championships May 6-8 where 800 teams from around the world will compete.
Students in 11475B are: senior Victor Peel, junior Jonathan Lo, senior Jared Gabion, senior Liangxue Chen, freshman Meng Xu, and junior Christopher Tang.
Placing second in their region and heading to Dallas was thrilling, according to senior Jared Gabion, as the team ended up winning in the semi-finals by four points.
“We had been preparing for this for a long time,” he said. “What helped us a lot was just our game plan and how we worked with other teams.”
Junior Jonathan Lo attributes much of the success to the research they have done all year and their desire to consistently learn. He talked about learning from teams that were better than them and how asking questions of coaches of those teams while at competitions has helped.
The Robotics Club is an extracurricular group advised by science teacher Tom Johnson.
The students are building a third robot now for the Dallas competition, refining its drivetrain and the intake parts that helps the robot pick up the plastic rings that are key to winning the competition, according to senior Victor Peel. Victor, who has been in the Robotics Club for four years, said the students spend approximately 20 hours per week working on their robot.
“I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me,” Victor said.
The battery-powered robots are remote-controlled and are built to specifications to fit within a cube that is 18-by-18-inches. Students program the robots to carry out the various tasks needed to score points in each game. The group uses parts from earlier robots to build new ones, in addition to using new parts purchased by the club.
Christopher Tang, a Stockdale High School junior on the LHS team, talked about the fun of building the robots. “It’s a nice break” from typical school work, he said. “This is like controlled chaos.”
The seniors on the team have made their post-high school plans, pending university acceptance letters in the coming weeks. Victor Peel plans to study electrical engineering. Jared Gabion will move to Florida to enroll in a private aeronautical school and plans to build and fly airplanes. Liangxue Chen plans to double major in computer science and psychology.
Meanwhile, freshman Meng Xu said she’ll continue with the Robotics Club in the coming years. “I hope to make it to the World Championships at least one more time before I graduate,” she said.
Jonathan Lo also notes his excitement for the future of robotics at Liberty. "As a result of all we have learned, we will be even more ready {for success] for next year."