The smell of Little Caesars, fear, and freshly soldered wires filled the air Tuesday afternoon as the Butte College Robotics Club hosted their highly anticipated bot battle.
Friendships and family alike were cast aside in the pursuit of glory as the battle bots and their respective teams took the stage. Mothers shielded the eyes of their children as gears, wheels, and other spare parts flew off the glass of the battle box!
To add to the already tense atmosphere, competitors were given only five minutes in between the scheduled rounds of violence to repair the broken parts of their bots. Some teams were even forced with no other choice than to enter their bots back into the pit with only… partial fixes.
Judges turned away as entire teams fell to their knees upon witnessing their beloved bots shredded to bits by their rivals. Meanwhile, an insatiable bloodlust took over the crowd as the screams and cheers for more filled the Nest.
As if on cue with the chants of the crowd, King Cobra and Team 5 took to the stage looking to deliver fireworks inside of the pit. Both bots met head on in a heated exchange where Team 5 was ultimately given the nod after breaking one of the wheels on King Cobra. In a blatant disregard for the rules, King Cobra immediately turned a full ninety degrees before pinning the Team 5 bot up against the wall and tearing it to shreds.
Ultimately, it was Issac Carrillo, Nicolas Carrillo, and Ryan Smith of Team 5 who made their claim to victory after sweeping up the bits of their once beloved battle bot before being showered with praise from the crowd.
The staff over at The Roadrunner had the chance to sit down with some of the mad lads in charge of the program, as well as some of those taking part in the competition, to ask about their motives for participating in the Robotics Club.
Josiah Simmons, who is the previous president and current treasurer of the Butte College Robotics Club, keyed us in on his reasoning for starting the club and what impact he feels that it has had on the students.
“Some friends and I started the robotics club because we wanted to work on robotics projects, and we were lacking both the know-how and funds to do it ourselves. So I, along with some others, agreed to start up a club to get in contact with others in the college who may be interested in the same things, as well as attempting to gain some funding from the college.”
“I know we are still trying to expand the robotics club, and we are hoping to one day have someone in the industry come in and do events with us, and that will give students in the club a chance to mingle with those beyond the school.”
Josiah was not alone in his love for the club, as current president Emily Carr was also more than willing to voice her passion behind the movement known as “The Robotics Club.”
“I helped create this program not just as a way to have fun but also out of necessity. I had taken mechatronics classes in both middle and high school but found the college lacked any programs or courses related to mechatronics. This was worrisome for me because I had friends who were interested in Butte, but they ended up going different directions due to the college not having any programs to support those interested in the field. I’m hoping this will one day open into a full-blown course, but I am doubtful that will happen in my lifetime.”
Not just wanting to take the leadership’s word for it, the team decided to do some scouting of our own and asked club member Victoria Alberto exactly what she feels the club has done for her.
“Robotics Club gave me the opportunity to both learn and use new skills, skills that I never would have thought I had prior to being here. I’ve learned a lot about 3D modeling and the tools used in the process as well. This club has also helped me learn how to achieve goals as a group, and I just can’t say enough about how the information I am picking up here is relevant to the field I am interested in.”
Club president Emily Carr left us with some words of encouragement for those on the fence about joining the club.
“You don’t need any experience. It’s really fun, and we are here to teach you! We have workshops that are open to everyone, so if you don’t know if you want to join or not, you could always come in during those times, check out what we do, get to know the team, and see if it is right for you.”
