Lambert’s known for its competitive edge. Teams such as iGem and women’s golf are among the best in the entire world. It’s no surprise that with Lambert’s new robotics team, students continue to prepare and compete with extraordinary dedication.
The robotics team was started by a new staff member, engineering teacher Mr Goli. He previously taught at Forsyth Central High School where he led Central’s team in the world championship in the First Robotics competition. Now, he’s hoping to bring that experience to Lambert.
Mr. Goli was a key foundation to starting a successful robotics team at Lambert, but eventually it’s the students he recruited who put in effort and prepare the team for competition. The team currently has over 30 members who each focus on a different aspect of competition. Some members design and work on manufacturing competition robots, while others handle programming and electrical work for the final project.
There’s also other roles that members fulfill, some which don’t require work on the robot at all. As Junior Yash Gandhi, one of the team captains, points out, the robotics team has roles for everybody.
“Robot-development focused jobs are not all that the club has to offer,” Gandhi commented. “We have members focused on outreach, community involvement and even strategizing how to succeed in the future.”
Managing a new team, especially one as competitive as robotics, is hard work. However, these students manage to effectively delegate work and come together as a team to handle a complex project. Competitions typically involve a large number of robots from many different schools, initially competing in district competitions before attempting to qualify for the state championship.
As for the actual matches, robots compete in an area about the size of a tennis court. Within this area, robots have to complete a variety of game-like challenges released each year. Matches are typically 3v3 with about 10 placement matches until the playoffs where teams are eliminated and tournament winners are declared. In each match, the robot is both controlled by humans and has to be coded to work autonomously for 15 seconds. Matches are scores and accuracy as the robot needs to complete the challenges properly.
“For our school, we have a driver, a spotter and our coach present at the controller station to make sure that each and every match runs smoothly.” Gandhi explains. “We will also go to two-three tournaments before hopefully qualifying for and attending the state championship.”
Competitions are run through FIRST Robotics, a global non-profit organization that encourages students to learn about robotics and gain experience working collaboratively. The robotics team’s first competition will begin this January, initially attending regional tournaments before hoping to make the statewide rounds next April. Even in the off-season, however, Lambert’s team has shown amazing results. Participating in the Georgia Robotics Invitational Tournament & Showcase (GRITS) this year, the team shined in showcasing their robot.
“Our team did incredible,” Gandhi added. “The bot received the attention of many well-known teams for its remarkable functionality and mechanics relative to other rookie teams.”
Through dedication and an extreme amount of work, Lambert’s robotics team looks confident as they move forward and represent our school. Currently, the organization is also focused on outreach as they want to stimulate an interest in robotics and get their name out. Robotics is an emerging field with a wide variety of applications as well as one that’s finally found a place at Lambert. We’re looking forward to seeing these students shine in the coming months as they start competing!
