Huntington High School’s robotics team is slowly gathering steam despite the limitations on its activities that the COVID-19 pandemic has required.
The group met throughout the summer via Zoom with faculty advisors Omar Santiago and Brian Reynolds. The returning Blue Devils elected a new leadership team for 2020/21. Alex Frawley is the new team captain with Luke Rinaldi filling the post of vice captain. Sydney Cordeiro will be the chief business officer. Anthony Amitrano is the chief technical officer.
“Our Monday [Google Classroom] meetings are going very well and we have been teaching our members programming, presentation skills and CAD/3D design,” Mr. Frawley said. “We are an active team and we would like to encourage others to take advantage of these meetings to learn new skills. Once we have the go-ahead for in person meetings we will be in a great position to work on our robot, Smokey and enter competitions.”
In a recent report to the school community and its financial supporters, the Huntington Robotics executive team members said the FIRST Robotics organization is offering online competitions, including Infinite Recharge at Home, Game Design Challenge and Innovation Challenge, “which give us the opportunity to show off our robot and display its technical and mechanical qualities to the judges,” according to the teenage tech wizards. “This will give our team the opportunity to become more efficient builders and thinkers.”
The team’s leaders said once high school clubs are greenlighted for in-person activities, Huntington Robotics will upgrade and refine its robot. “This will give our team members hands-on experience with building and programming the robot other than just through the interactive CAD/3D design program,” the group said.
Huntington Robotics team members are also planning visits to Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School and other Huntington UFSD elementary school buildings “to bring awareness of robotics/STEM to younger children” the group’s community report stated.
“Due to the pandemic we are limited in numbers and resources, however this is a great opportunity for students to become involved and learn new skills, which they will use for years to come,” Mr. Frawley said.
Huntington Robotics is in the midst of an ongoing recruiting drive. Students interested in joining the Blue Devils can send a message to huntingtonrobotics@gmail.com.
The Huntington Robotics parent organization is also looking for mentors to work with team members. Interested? Send a message to huntingtonroboticsinc@gmail.com.