Robots whirl, spin, and stir as they scoop up plastic balls and slot them into clear tubes, both teams attempting to score as many points as possible. In this fast-paced VEX Robotics competition, months of work by the Taejon Christian International School’s robotics team are finally being put to the test.
The high school team can be seen testing and tinkering with the robot during O-blocks. Each member is tasked with designing, programming, and building the robots from parts provided by VEX Robotics, including metal frames, omni-directional wheels, and servos. Their latest goal is a massive overhaul of the robot, converting their robot from 4-wheel, 2-wheel drive to a six-wheel, 4-wheel drive setup and installing metal beams to protect the wheels from collisions.
Overseen by design teachers Ms. Smith and Mr. McKenzie, the team is composed of six members: James, Kevin Li, Eason Sun, Eunho Jung, Allen Cho, and Jimin Kang. While the team is small, their enthusiasm is not.
Out of the six, Eason is the veteran, having been involved since 9th grade. He shares that he enjoys “making our own products, like programs and robots.” He is the one tasked with programming the robot, including its “autonomous period”, a window of time at the beginning of each game in which manual control is forbidden and the robot must move by its own. Eason said one issue the team faces is that “we don’t have enough money” and unclear expectations on available budget.
Mrs. Smith, who supervises the team alongside Mr. McKenzie, has been involved in robotics across three different schools. Like Eason, she shared what she loved about robotics is that “all the ideas come from [the students].”
While the robotics program itself has existed for many years, the TCIS team itself only started competing this year. Their next competition is the KAIAC finals, set to be held at Seoul Foreign School on February 11th. TCIS is not alone in having a robotics team. Seoul Foreign School, for example, qualified for VEX World last year, the most prestigious VEX competition for high school students.
Every season comes with a brand new challenge, so that the competition stays fresh. While this season centers around passing balls, previous ones included climbing racks. However, this also means the team must purchase a new, custom testing arena from VEX Robotics every season. Mr. McKenzie acknowledges that this process is somewhat wasteful, so he reuses the arena for middle school robotics.
The team is looking for new members. So if what you’ve read interests you, please consider joining!