What is your role within robotics?

I am the Build Team Leader. So I basically make sure our bot actually is functional by the time we meet, and then that everyone has everything to do on the build team, and we’re just basically working well as a team.

How did you get interested in robotics?

So I was first recommended to join during Driver’s [Education] with one of my friends who’s already in robotics. That was three years ago, and so I just joined the team and I haven’t left since.

How would you describe what Robotics does?

Robotics is like innovation. So what I’m personally doing is a lot of CAD design (Computer Aided Design) and hands-on building, like putting together the robot and testing new designs and stuff to meet the design criteria.

What would you say to someone interested in joining robotics?

I’d say that to join you don’t need to have any skills beforehand, like any design or coding skills or anything like that, because we can teach everyone all those skills from scratch.

Do you see yourself pursuing a career related to what you do here?

Yeah, so I’m planning on going to college for mechanical engineering with a minor in robotic engineering. [Careerwise] I have an idea, which is something kind of related to [Robotics] or more advanced, like manufacturing robotics. But that can always change.

What is your role within robotics?

I’m the Outreach Team Leader so I work with the team to work with the community, acquire some funding, and also see how we can help out the school. For example, I helped organize a career circuit where we bring in people, not just those in STEM careers though we have a big focus on that, to City High to present about a day in their life as whatever job they have. We’ve had Rockwell Collins professionals come in, we had the mayor not too long ago, and some [University of Iowa] workers and Kirkwood professors as well. So it’s been a really cool opportunity for everyone.

How did you get interested in robotics?

So I kind of came into robotics as a result of my interest in math and science. I’ve always liked math and science, and I feel like robotics is probably the most central STEM thing that we have in City High. And so, Mons and Crawford, our coaches were super inviting and they got me from sophomore year on.

How would you describe what Robotics does?

At its center, I would say Raw Bacon works together as a team to create a robot that competes with other schools’ robotics teams in First Tech Challenge, the league we’re in. I would say it’s branched out to be so much more than that, though, like it’s a welcoming space for people that are interested in these kinds of things from coding to building, to outreach, to note booking. It’s really kind of a home for a lot of people here.

What has been your most memorable experience within robotics?

One of my highlights that I’ll remember when I’m old is driving the robot. This year, I’ve gotten the opportunity to drive the robot during competitions. So I’d say that’s probably a top choice.

What would you say to someone interested in joining robotics?

I would say stop by Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school. It’s really inviting, even if you don’t think you’ve got the skills there. Just show up for a few weeks at a time and quickly you’ll find our pace and start being able to help out a whole lot and it’s a really cool space to be

Do you see yourself pursuing a career related to what you do here?

So after Raw Bacon season, I’ll probably be going to a college for either mechanical or aerospace engineering. I’m still on the fence there. I think that’ll be a great continuation of what we’ve done here.

What is your role within robotics?

My role within robotics is to create the engineering portfolio which follows the design process of our robot. It’s used when we go to our qualifiers in January— the judges use it as a part of the process of deciding who advances and who receives awards.

How did you get interested in robotics?

My sophomore year, a friend was trying it out and I decided to go with them. I wanted to be a coder originally because I had always loved Hour of Code in elementary school, but when the coaches started talking about notebook and portfolio, I decided that it interested me a lot more than coding.

What would you say to someone interested in joining robotics?

The team is really looking for members, and we would more than welcome anyone looking to join! If you’re interested in stem, it’s obviously a great fit, but if you’re interested in graphic design or journalism there’s also a place for you with our notebook! Anyone looking to branch out should definitely give it a try.

Do you plan to continue with the school skills you learned or expand from robotics in the future?

While I don’t plan on continuing with STEM, the work I’ve done in terms of compiling information and graphic design will definitely continue with me after high school!

Do you see yourself pursuing a career related to what you do here?

Like I said, I’m not planning on pursuing STEM; however, I do plan on pursuing literature and writing, and I think that a lot of the skills that I learned here will apply! Not only in my career, this club teaches you a lot about teamwork, which is a very valuable skill that’s applicable in any field.

What is your role within robotics?

I am the code lead.

How did you get interested in robotics?

I have had a huge interest in coding, one of the first programming languages I learned was Python. However, first I actually started learning it with Java when I did a class with College for Kids at Coe College. I got more interested because of that. Currently, I work with Java here, but on my own time, I actually work with binary. 

What has been your most memorable experience within robotics?

Probably my first ever year with this team, that was sophomore year. That was the year that we went to state and I was really happy about that because that was the second to last [competition round before] world. If you heard last week Mr. Bacon talked about our placing first in the state, 63rd in the world and I’m really happy about that as well. I have a good feeling that we’re gonna get to see it again this year. 

What would you say to someone interested in joining robotics? 

Want to learn code? Honestly though, with what I tell someone, if you’re interested in learning code, this is not a bad place to start.

Do you see yourself pursuing a career related to what you do here?

It’s up in the air. I kind of want to be a game developer. However, that means I have to learn how to use [the coding language] C++ because that’s what’s commonly used in that field, which is a different programming language similar to Java, but not very. C++ is one of the most different languages to learn. 

Anything else you want to add?

People like to think that coding is something for introverts. [It’s] far from it. I may be an introvert, [but] I consider myself more of an ambivert because of this. But being on a robotics team or anything coding-related, you are going to be working with people all the time.

What is your role within robotics?

I am the Competition Lead, which basically boils down to a combination of strategy and management which then I come up with game strategies that make it to people on the playing field.

How did you get interested in robotics?

I’ve always been into STEM and after I moved, I found out about this club and so I decided to give it a try.

How would you describe what Raw Bacon Robotics does?

We come together as a team and we build and code the robot as well as record our process.

What has been your favorite experience or memory and robotics? 

The joy we feel as a team when we come together and succeed.

Do you plan to continue with the skills you’ve learned or expanded from robotics in the future?

I’m planning on doing some variety of engineering, so yes, the skills that I’ve learned here will probably in some way be applied there.

Do you see yourself pursuing a career related to what you do here? Yes, I plan on being a biomedical engineer — it’s the engineering side of medicine. So like prosthetics, implants, [and] imaging tech. I specifically want to do prosthetics.