By Kaitlin An
Special to the Tribune
San Marino High School’s Titanium Robotics presented their 2023 robot named “Jol[Ti]k” at their rollout event on Saturday.
The team welcomed esteemed guests such as Titanium’s founder Jeng Yen, SMUSD Board and City Council members, Principal Jason Kurtenbach, as well as mentors, families and supporters.
Attendees gathered on the SMHS campus to hear about the team’s hard work over the past two months and witness the grand reveal. After introducing the team’s student-composed cabinet, Titanium’s Engineering President Lillian Panning explained the FIRST Robotics “Charged Up” game that Jol[Ti]k will compete in during this season.
Panning outlined the robot design process in which the team prototyped, assembled, wired and programmed after establishing the mechanical priorities they would need to succeed in the energy storage game, where robots score cones and cubes into grids to “charge up their community.”
Following this introduction, it was time for the grand reveal, where Electrical Captain Anderson Su expertly trumpeted fanfare as the bot was unveiled. Jol[Ti]k, the 4-foot tall, blue and white construction is distinctively named to include Titanium’s elemental symbol [Ti] and match this year’s “Charge Up” theme as it is named after an electric-type Pokemon.
In describing the Jol[Ti]k’s key features, Planning and Programming Captain Marcus Koh discussed the robot’s Swerve Drivetrain, which allows for quick and precise movement, the arm and claw which use a wheeled intake to pick up game pieces and raise them to desired heights, and finally, important programming projects for things like the robot’s positional awareness, object detection, image processing and autonomous control.
The bot was finally seen in action in a demonstration by Titanium’s drive team members Howard Huang and Riley Sullivan. With Sullivan driving the robot and Huang controlling the claw’s intake and release, the cones and cubes were successfully delivered to the grid, the team’s hand-built practice arena.
To end the event, Titanium’s Business Cabinet, led by Celine Chih, held a fundraising auction whose winners will get their names engraved on the two beams of the robot’s arm and receive a custom-built LED sign. The opportunity sold for $1,600 to the Koh family and the Wang family. Titanium is grateful for these generous families and all of the supporters who have given their time and resources to the team’s effort. The aid of mentors, sponsors and parents have helped Titanium to thrive this build season.
With the anticipation of the upcoming competitions in Orange County and Silicon Valley, Titanium is excited to take the next steps of detailed refining and preparing. The team has accomplished great feats of innovation and creativity since the beginning of the year, but this is only the beginning for Titanium, as students continue to take on projects with unfaltering enthusiasm.
Titanium Robotics is a team consisting of more than 100 students, mainly from San Marino High School, who come together with a common interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Students learn from professional engineers and mentors to build and compete in the annual FIRST Robotics Challenge with a robot of their own design. Programming, electrical work, computer-aided design and business management are all run by student representatives, making the entire organization student-led from start to finish.
An is the writer for Titanium Robotics.
