A new STEM opportunity has just arrived at Orono. Thanks to the founders of this team, Perry Haislet, and Wendy Lundsgaard, this year will be the first year that Orono High School will have a dedicated robotics team. Practices kicked off in October, and this team is off to a great start this season.
The team is a First Robotics Competition team, meaning that they will be competing with other teams from other schools within the First Robotics Competition organization. The competition gives a task or list of tasks for a robot to achieve under a set of constraints. Then during the season, the team will build a large robot designed to perform all these tasks to the best of its ability.
“[I expect this season to be] somewhat challenging, especially since we have to put everything together for the first time and make a complex machine,” Robotics Team member Adam Haislet said.
Despite this, Haislet thinks they will be successful due to their immense preparation for this season. “If everyone works hard and puts their heads together, it will be a fun and rewarding season for us.”
The Future of the Robotics Team
The Orono Robotics Team will start building robots for their first competitions in January but is beginning now to assess their strengths and build up supplies for a successful first season.
“[I wanted to join because] it’s a fun and interactive club where we can work with our friends to build something that we couldn’t do on our own” member of the Robotics Team John Eberhardt explained. John also thinks that any students interested should join to “experience a hands-on STEM experience like this because we don’t have very many opportunities like that in the regular class curriculum.”
If you are interested in joining, any student in grades 9-12 is welcome to join. Although the team is currently in its early stage of development, it is showing strong signs of preparedness that will not only allow for a fun season but will also set up an environment where students can creatively and actively learn STEM topics that will benefit them in the rest of their time at OHS.