By Arianna Avitia-Gutierrez & Juliana Johnson

The Granada Hills Charter (GHC) Robotics team attended two competitions on the weekend of March 16. The VEX team made it to playoffs in the State Competition at Damien High School in La Verne. The FRC team competed at the Los Angeles Regional competition at Da Vinci High School in Los Angeles. The FRC team won the Team Spirit award for the first time ever thanks to their high spirits throughout the competition as well as their unparalleled professionalism.

Members of GHC’s student-run Robodox are committed to problem-solving through engineering and put in many hours to hone in on their craft. This creates not only an educational opportunity but also fosters a tight-knit community of like-minded students.

The award-winning Robodox team consists of 40 students across two sectors; FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) which competes during the spring semester and VEX which competes all year round. Both teams consist of students of all grade levels and abilities, each having their own distinct role.

Robodox works day and even night, prepping for competitions all over the West Coast.

“We have the room open from Monday to Thursday each week from 6th period to either 6:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.,” Robodox President Angel Yanga said. “FRC follows this schedule in the spring semester only, but Vex is there all year around.”

All of these practices work towards their regional and state competitions, which dictates if they will be able to qualify for the world competition. And it is no wonder that they spend so long preparing, once you find out what these competitions truly entail.

In each competition, students are given a task or game their robot must complete and then build a new robot accordingly. Competitions are a series of matchups between teams in which they earn points for their ability to complete a task or win a game. This bracket-like structure continues until one robot reigns supreme. Then once their competition is finished, they are given the new task for their next season and get right back to work.

This year, VEX’s game is called “Over-Under,” in which the robot has to throw balls across a field and score, similar to soccer. This competition lasts a day. For FRC, the robot has to climb a chain and throw foam rings, similar to basketball, and the competition lasts two to three days.

“Before competitions, there are a lot of pre-flights, which are basically check-ups on the robot,” senior FRC Chief Engineer William Zheng said. “Before we go, we make sure we have all our items and are well organized.”

Competition prep goes deeper than just building a robot as well, team executives have the added responsibility of planning the logistics for everyone on their teams.

“Before each competition, we communicate with our coaches to create event itineraries, which we provide to students to keep their parents informed and even local Granada Hills businesses to potentially sponsor food for our students,” Yanga said.

Last season, the Robodox were awarded a myriad of different honors across multiple competitions.

“Last year was a year full of awards,” Zheng said. “We were awarded the Sustainability Award for our immense documentation and Angel Yanga was recognized as a Dean List’s finalist for the measures they took in their community to spread the message of STEM.”

This year is on track to be no different, with the Robodox already making waves all across the San Fernando Valley.

“Our biggest achievement this season was getting the Excellence Award, the highest in VEX, at our home competition Rumble In The Jungle,” Hoang said. “We ranked fifth overall, and according to the judges, we had the strongest notebook.”

Robodox is not only a great learning opportunity for those interested in engineering but also offers a sense of community to all members.

“For me, Robodox has truly become a family, especially being on VEX where we only have 5 members, giving us room to truly become close,” Hoang said. “I always tell them we win together and lose together which has really helped us grow our bond, even when being so focused.”

If you are interested in joining Robodox, tryouts are open to all later this spring, regardless of previous experience, and occur at the beginning of every school year.