By Nishka Jain and Ria Jhamnani
Staff Writers
A Tale of Two Teams
The original BASIS Shavano competitive robotics team was co-ed and open to anyone who wished to join. They performed well in competitions but had a significant issue: money. Because the robotics team did not receive school funding like many other teams in their league, they realized they were falling behind. This presented them with two choices: to continue their struggle of keeping up with the other team or make a difficult decision and split into two teams.
Ultimately, they decided that it would be most beneficial to split into a girls team and a boys team. This would allow the newly formed boys team to receive various rookie team grants and the girls to be eligible for Women in STEM grants. By splitting, each team continues to have more room to grow, allowing more students to become involved in competitive robotics.
Breaking From the Stereotypes
Even in the controlled environment of high school robotics, female students face many stereotypes. Members of the robotics community often assume that all-girls teams only have a strong outreach division, as opposed to the hardware and software aspects of FTC robotics. This mindset creates the illusion that girls are less competent in STEM fields, when in reality, the opposite is true. In the BASIS Batteries Not Included robotics team, a majority of the members are excelling in the most advanced science courses and applying their knowledge in the professional setting of FTC robotics. Breaking away from the co-ed team has allowed the girls to create their own foundation for innovation. They firmly believe it is important to show that, as girls, they can do it all.
As an all-girls team, Batteries Not Included embodies the change that they wish to see in society. By creating a platform for girls at our school to learn about robotics, coaches have noted a dramatic increase in the interest of tryouts and the robotics elective. As the team continues to empower Women in STEM, we see a growing passion for robotics in girls at BASIS.
More Than Just Screws and Bolts
The BASIS Shavano robotics teams participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), an international robotics program that encourages students to build robots and compete in a professional setting. Every September, the team builds a new and competitive robot for the newly introduced game. This season’s game is called BioBuzz, which is a shooting game. Another aspect of FIRST Tech Challenge is creating a portfolio that includes community outreach that the team has done: partnerships, sponsorships, and hosting various events.
Traditionally, members have one of three main roles: outreach, hardware, and software. Outreach manages social media, finances, community events, sponsorships, and works to build a strong portfolio for the team. The hardware division is responsible for digitally brainstorming and designing a robot that will carry out the functions required for the game. They also create multiple prototypes of the robot with which they will compete. Lastly, the software team works to bring the robot to life through code and wiring. Ultimately, each division must be able to work in harmony in order to succeed in competitions.
This season’s game is complicated with many parts. For instance, in BioBuzz, the robot must be able to shoot different-sized balls into a see-saw-like goal and score points in multiple different ways.
As the competition season has now started, the team is working to prepare for the upcoming events.