With their competition starting at the beginning of the new year, Robotics is concentrating on preparing their technology for success.

According to adviser Trevor Paulson, the first step is setting up their workspace.

“Prior to the kickoff of our competition in January, we’re focusing on organizing our new room and setting up technology. Once competition starts, it’s six really intense weeks of designing, prototyping, and then programming and learning the controls,” Paulson said.

However, members need to become familiar with the technology around them to help with the competition process, according to Paulson.

“We’re getting people prepped now. We have a robot that people can test drive and we’re teaching wiring and code to those who are interested. We’re also getting people trained in on safety and tools. That’s a big part of building; they help cut and build the robot,” Paulson said.

Paulson said JavaScript, a computer programming language, is a major aspect of robotics that students can learn.

“[The program] communicates from the robot to the control unit. You can program certain buttons on the controller to perform certain tasks; whether it’s steering, driving, picking up balls, releasing triggers, all kinds of stuff,” Paulson said.