While the members of the Kardia Robotics team have diverse personalities and bring different strengths to the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) program, all share common priorities and qualities like problem-solving, teamwork and determination.
The first competition of the season was in December, and team members began gathering long before that to design and create their robot.
"One of the most intimidating and challenging parts for me is the very beginning of the season, when there is so much to be done and the robot is a prototype and the program is only a vague plan," said team member Emily Schaeffer. "It is difficult to visualize the final result, but as each small accomplishment brings the robot to completion, it is lots of fun to think back on the original stages and see how much has improved."
Emily said that she enjoys watching the final outcome of the students' hard work. "My favorite part is the exhilaration of overcoming a challenge. There is nothing as satisfying as watching the robot, after a thousand iterations of late-night programming, finally move forward and accomplish its goal on the competition field," said Emily. "To see the robot complete an autonomous program is to see a very visual representation of hard work rewarded and problems solved."
Team member Jake Reese, a ninth-grade homeschooled student, explained that each student has different responsibilities throughout the competition season. "My specific responsibilities include contacting and presenting to potential sponsors, maintaining our team's website, recording transactions and updating our budget and supporting the upkeep of our team's engineering notebook," he said.
"I am a part of the programming team, and so I am in charge of making sure our robot will respond to the drivers' commands and to prewritten autonomous programming," Emily added.
Jake said his favorite part of participating in FIRST Tech is meeting professionals in the community and showcasing the program to others. He added that the program prepares students for their future career plans. "Not only does FIRST inspire the use of technical skills, but it also promotes communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. These soft skills will greatly help us in the future in the workplace and in the community," Jake stated. "(These) 21st-century learning skills will be vital to our future success."
Emily added that the team members have grown closer through their working relationship. "Our experiences in FTC have created a bond within our team that is rarely strained by conflict," Emily added. "Spending so much time together seeking solutions to problems has made it hard for (conflict) to arise among us."
Both Jake and Emily said that they would recommend robotics and the FIRST Tech Challenge program to all interested youths. "Even though FIRST is a robotics competition, it's not only for those who want to be programmers or engineers," said Jake. "There are many aspects of other occupations that are incorporated into FIRST, making it an extremely well-rounded program."
"I would enthusiastically recommend FIRST Tech Challenge to other students," added Emily. "When I originally became a part of my robotics team, I knew nothing about robotics. FIRST Tech Challenge gave me the resources and experiences necessary to learn more not only about robotics, but also about leadership, communication, problem solving and team building," said Emily, who is a senior homeschooled student. "This program has given me some of my fondest high school memories, and I will miss it very much."
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