Timber Creek High School’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Club members are currently working together to build unique machines, to prepare for the 2016 Vex Robotic Competition, Starstruck. Currently, there are at least five robots being built and an additional four waiting to be constructed.

In the competition, teams and robots are on opposite sides on an area, and operators of the robots use their controls to throw stars and cubes across a fence to the other side, in order to gain points. The game is timed, and depending on the robot’s ability to climb a pole, additional bonus points can be rewarded. At the competition, different teams can be in alliances with other robots.

The students have been working on these robots since the beginning of the year, every Wednesday after school. Not only do the robots have to be programmed to throw the stars and cubes by themselves, but they also have to be able to be controlled by two operators. The competition has many regulations for these machines, and this forces the students to get creative. 

“It might seem like a lot of work now, but it is worth it when you are competing with your robot,” said senior, Robert Miller.

The members are encouraged to create different designs of robots, and as Tomas Garcia, a senior in the club, mentions, “We embrace the idea of having students build their own robot based off their own ideas and their own dreams.”

The STEM club will hold an elimination competition that will determine which robots proceed to the Starstruck competition. The date of this competition is to be determined, depending on the timliness of the assembly of the robots.

“Most of the assembly is trial and error, but it pays off in the end.” said senior, Luis Pinero.

STEM Club is a group concentrated on helping students pursuing a field in science, technology, engineering or math. The club is sponsored by the Physics teacher, Andre Dean. Anyone who is on the STEM pathway or is interested in a career in one of these areas can come to the meetings on Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m. in room M116.

Tyler Martin, senior member and club president, said “I think our school is going to win because we have been working really hard on it and we are ahead of the other schools, so I’m expecting good things.”

See more information on the robotics and engineering students here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lled2IRGEv0