Tucked away in the corner of campus, Room 903 — also known as the robotics quad — may seem quiet from the outside. However, step inside after school or into some evenings, and you will find that it is anything but quiet.
The clicking of typing and the hum of tools fill the air, and clusters of four or five team members gather around every corner. This is the home of MSET robotics, where FTC and FRC teams are preparing for the season ahead.
The FTC team’s main season started on Sept. 7 with the release of the 2024-25 game Into the Deep. Meanwhile, the FRC team is in their offseason, with their main season running from January to April.
FTC teams stay busy after season kickoff in September
The FTC program consists of three teams — Bettafish, Cuttlefish and Jellyfish — the Cuttlefish being the veteran team, while the Bettafish and Jellyfish are mainly made up of beginner underclassmen.
Into the Deep requires competing robots to pick up specimens, or plastic blocks, and place them in various places on the field.
“The game is complicated in many ways, but we are also disappointed that it is not a water game, [a highly anticipated imagined challenge where robots navigate a water-based environment], as FTC has been waiting for a water game for decades,” junior Max Rombakh said.
During the first few weeks of school, before the season officially kicked off, the teams trained their rookie members and tested different mechanisms and code in software and hardware. Once the season began, the teams started designing and building their robots. Right now, teams are in their ideation process, which includes working on prototypes and finalizing ideas.
“Right now, we’re in the ideation process and into the prototyping process. We have a hardware deadline coming up in a week or so, so we were working on prototypes and finalizing ideas” said freshman Aryan Swamy, a member of FTC.
FRC team utilizes offseason time for training and preparation
On the other side of MSET, the FRC team is also training their rookies this offseason. Typically, the team would participate in one to two offseason tournaments; however, they were unable to do so this year due to conflicts with the administration of the PSAT and marching band competitions.
The FRC team is broken up into subteams, with each focusing on hardware, software, electronics, manufacturing or outreach. Each of these subteams has been using the offseason in different ways to prepare for the season kickoff in January.
The veteran hardware members are training the rookie members using last year’s robot. They are using a 3D CAD software called SOLIDWORKS to create a prototype intake, a mechanism that can pull foam rings — an element in last year’s game — into the robot.
On the software side, members have been working on projects to advance their knowledge of system control. Specifically, veteran members are working on the controls for a 2-joint arm and code for their vision cameras. The benefit is that this design can be applied to future robots.
The electronics team has begun training members on basic electronics skills and are applying them by fixing broken wires and control elements for Hammerhead, the team’s robot from two years ago.
The manufacturing team has been focusing on training new members in operating the manual mill and lathe machine, which is used to cut metal parts for the robot.
Junior Ishir Gupta of FRC said, “The offseason is looking really good, especially for incoming rookies. I think they are learning a lot because we have a more detailed plan and curriculum to follow which will really prepare them for the season.”
