This past week, Titanium Robotics hosted an on-campus work session for special needs students, introduced robotics to a group of Cub Scouts, and showcased their robots to local businesses on Huntington Drive in order to raise awareness for robotics programs in the community. All of this was only possible as a result of the hard work and dedication of Titanium team members.
First, on Wednesday during 6th period, the San Marino High School special needs class worked with Engineering Vice Presidents William Cockrum and Stella Yao to learn about the safety procedures and features of the robotics room before building individual race cars. Next week, students will be racing their cars and making adjustments to enhance performance. Following the event, Cockrum reflected, “It was really great to work with the special needs students. They are some of the most hard-working and caring people I have ever worked with.”
On Friday, the programming staff met to officially test new autonomous code with Joys[Ti]ck, last year’s Power Up game competition robot, while the drive team specialists ran drills to practice for the fast approaching competition season. During the work session, a group of passionate Cub Scouts toured the robotics room and witnessed team activities under the guidance of Business President Kimia Hassibi and Engineering President Olivia Cameron. Moreover, they also received a presentation regarding the various components of Joys[Ti]ck before viewing a demonstration of Joys[Ti]ck’s trademark cascading lift. The work session finished with preparation for the next highly anticipated event: Walk Huntington!
If someone was walking down Huntington Drive in San Marino on Saturday afternoon, he or she was likely greeted by a coalition of Titanium Robotics members, Joys[Ti]ck, and the
T-Shirt cannon, [Ti]rone. The event featured team members greeting local shop owners in the hope of eliciting support by introducing themselves and the team to the community. Moreover, Titanium Robotics members were also able to interact with other citizens, effectively spreading the message of STEAM–Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. Events Coordinator Justin Jang later explained that he was “glad to see how much the community was willing to support us.”
Although Titanium Robotics will be temporarily inactive to allow students to prep for finals, the kickoff for the 2019 FRC season is happening on Saturday, January 5th, 2019, marking the start of only 6 weeks to design, prototype, build, wire, program, and test an entirely new robot for an entirely new set of rules and objectives.
Regular competition season will open with Titanium Robotics attending the Orange County Regional during the first week of March and conclude with the Idaho Regional during the last week of March. These two regionals will each provide opportunities to earn a coveted spot to the FRC World Championships hosted in Houston in late April.
