Jonah Cohen

   The Grizzly Robotics Club came from humble beginnings, but has grown exponentially in the past few years.

   This student-organized club meets two to three times a week at GBHS collaborating in teams and spending endless hours creating their robots. To be successful in competitions, extensive work days and preparation is necessary.

   “Many months are spent sketching, modeling, building, testing, programming and documenting our robots,” Umang Vadhar, a senior at GBHS and a long-time member of the club, said. 

   In 2021, the club acquired eight members, encouraging a private tranquil space for students to express their passion for robotics. 

   “It was a small, close-knit environment,” Vadhar said. . 

   However, when the intensity increased with new members flooding in, they took their expertise beyond the campus advancing to the state and international level; they came out on top nearly every time. 

   Not only are members perfecting their skill set everyday, but they share their knowledge with future grizzlies as well. 

   “We also have an aspect of our program that reaches out to middle school students, and encourages them to get involved in robotics early on, so they are even more prepared to compete in high school,” Jacob Marchuk, a senior at GBHS and a facilitator of the club, said.

   The Grizzly Robotics soul purpose is to have an accessible program for students interested in STEM without money being an issue, like other comparable teams. 

   “The (focus) of the team was to create opportunities in STEM that are (available) to all students,” Marchuk said. 

   This year, VEX Robotics Competition created a new game called “Over Under”. To have the correct requirements for the robot, there is a set of guidelines that need to be met that are in the game manual such as rules, regulations, and in depth information about the size and shape of the robot.

   “It is…soccer with 48 soccer balls that are triangular shapes, and we’re trying to score them into our own goal,” Sankalp Immadisetty, a freshman at GBHS and a member of the club said.

   Typically, when assembling the robot, each member of the team is assigned a specific job.

   “(We) have a couple builders, a programmer and someone working on the engineering notebook. It really matters,” Immadisetty said

   Members of the club have learned many things, and they owe it to Robotics. 

   “(My experience has taught me) perseverance, and how to not give up because you’re gonna have times when you aren’t in control,” Immadisetty said.