When you walk into PHUHS’ robotics club, chances are that you will find around thirty people running around trying to get something done in a great hurry. It’s a club with a very energetic and hectic atmosphere and is one of the school’s biggest and most successful clubs. It’s every Wednesday and Friday from 2 pm to 5 pm, so it’s a huge time commitment, but many find that it is well worth it in the end.
Why join? It’s fun, of course! There’s a ton of fun stuff to do, and there’s a lot of people of all sorts there. Whether you’re a freshman or a senior, it’s never too early or too late to join. The club’s not too serious from personal experience, but you’re still expected to put in work for your team. It’s also a very good way to learn things like engineering, programming, and graphic design, no experience needed. Plus, it will look good on college applications, too!
Located in the end of the hallway in building 11’s second floor, the robotics club is very easy to find as it is in the computer lab where many tests are taken.
In robotics, every season brings a new competition. Your robot might be throwing discs one season, then picking up tiny plastic hexagons the next, ensuring a unique challenge for you and your team to overcome every year. There are 4 things a team must do to win a competition. You and your team must be able to design the robot using CAD in Autodesk Fusion 360, build the robot, and program it using the Java language and Android Studio. On top of that, you and your team must make an engineering portfolio (called a notebook) that documents what your team did during the season, including things like outreach, how the robot was engineered, and pictures of you and your team doing things. It’s something few people sign up for, but is probably one of the most important things in order to win. Many of these things seem very daunting to learn at first, but after a few hours you’ll get the hang of at least one of these things. Work hard, and pull your own weight in the team. You’ll fit in just fine.
All in all, robotics is a very good club to join. It’s fun, challenging, and a great place to meet new people and make new friends.
