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September 2024 Newsletter |
| | Happy October, old and new AR families! We’re so excited to kickoff a new year of robotics here at Aragon. In this issue, learn about what Aragon Robotics’ six subteams (FTC, FRC, MATE ROV, Outreach, Marketing, Finance) and the Directors are up to this September. |
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| | FTC’s New Challenge: Into the Deep℠ |
| Our robotics team consists of three technical teams, including our FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team, 4345, which is made up of 13 members this year. FTC focuses on land-based robotics in the FIRST organization, with a smaller robot of a maximum size of 18 inch x 18 inch x 18 inch. This year’s challenge, Into the Deep, was revealed at Jefferson High School on September 7, 2024. |
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The goal of this year’s challenge is to construct a robot that is able to pick up 1.5 x 1.5 x 3 inch rectangular blocks and move them into a basket. The teams can also earn additional points by attaching a clip to the blocks, and clipping them onto a bar. The competition begins off with a 30 autonomous second period, where the robot places as many blocks in the baskets as possible. Once the 30 seconds have passed, a 2 minute teleoperated period begins, and teams attempt to place as many blocks as they can in their respective zones. The final component is hanging the robot on a ladder with the first ring rings at different levels to earn even more points.
This year’s overall challenge is relatively less complicated than last year. However, the team has other things keeping them busy. “[T]his year we're implementing a two mech team process,” says FTC Captain Ellen Li (12). “[W]e are creating two robots to better suit our fast paced competition schedule.”
Since the season has started, training the new members is a priority for Li. She is working with Sam Gulchin (12), Mechanical Lead, to create a training curriculum for the mechanical subteams, and the programming team is completing a java course. |
| | A long season of packed competitions is on the horizon for FTC. “[W]e have the longest season compared to any other team, lasting from September to April,” says Li. “We also have more competitions than the other teams, ranging from 4 to 6.” You can watch their first competition on November 2nd. 2024, and their first tournament in February. |
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| | | FRC 840 FRC 840 is our largest technical team, consisting of 34 members, that builds an industrial sized robot to compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition. Like FTC, the FRC robot also mainly performs tasks to earn points during competitions. |
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| “FRC trains new members during the offseason for roughly 11 weeks (Sep-Dec),” says Captain Adam Richter (12). "We will host a short mock build season in the second half of training, where the new members will build a smaller robot to help them get a feel for the time constraints and process of the real build season.” Their kickoff will take place on January 4th, 2025. Here, the new challenge is revealed and the team will design, manufacture, and program a large robot in roughly 7 weeks.
In the wake of qualifying for worlds twice in a row from the Engineering Inspiration Award, FRC has the very ambitious goals of winning a regional competition to qualify in addition to winning either the Engineering Inspiration or Impact Award from the efforts of the Awards and Outreach teams. FRC also wants to go above and beyond expectations this year. “[We want to] push the boundaries of [our] robot's capabilities by learning and applying new things,” states Kaitlyn Zee (11), Co-Software lead.
FRC has significantly more members this year than last year, which poses a challenge for organization and training, but Richter and Vice Captain, Braden Chiu, are excited to train the new members in their assigned subteams. “My favorite part about robotics is the community,” Chiu says. “We have a very collaborative community where everyone is willing to help each other.”
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| | | Megalodon ROV is Aragon’s underwater robotics team that participates in the Marine Advanced Technology Education Competition. They spend an entire school year designing and prototyping an underwater ROV that can accomplish specific tasks in aquamarine environments that are designed to replicate real-world underwater challenges. The tasks for this season are going to be released in late December.
In the meantime, MATE members are undergoing training. “We are doing hands-on practice along with simulations,” Captain Aidan Yan (12) explains, “to ensure that everyone understands what is expected from the competition.” Instead of optional meetings like they did last year, MATE plans to implement a more structured and mandatory meeting system, hoping to boost attendance and lessen procrastination. |
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| | Their team goal is to make it to MATE ROV worlds by achieving top two overall in the regional competition. The leads believe the team is capable of reaching that goal. “[I want to] create a year that people will remember, guide the next generation, and ensure my members are prepared to take over the team,” Yan says on a more personal note. |
| | | Outreach is responsible for coordinating expos, initiatives, and workshops for the surrounding community, contributing to the technical teams’ chances of winning the Impact Award and Engineering Inspiration Award. The team has had several events in the past that have made STEM more accessible to the community, while simultaneously promoting the team. |
| On September 21, 2024, Outreach held an expo at the San Jose Reid Hillview Airport. There, they introduced Aragon Robotics to parents, demonstrated the FTC team’s robot, and open kids to aspects of STEM through the assembling of KiwiCo kits. |
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| Captain of the Outreach team, Aayushi Kothari (11), plans to expand the team’s impact. “[We are] hoping to start up ACCESS (international workshop program), donating KiwiCo kits, [host] classes for youth organizations (hospitals, group homes, etc), and host EmpowerHer, an all girls FRC competition, etc.”
Kothari hopes their enlarged team can meet these ambitious goals this year with their own newly implemented system of subteams, that separates management of the three event categories — FLL (First Lego League), SCOUTreach, and expos. Their October plans are to start an FLL workshop series for elementary to middle school students, and potentially resume SCOUTreach events. |
| | | | The Marketing team plays a large role in shaping the team's brand by creating promotional materials like merchandise and buttons, while also managing the team’s online presence through their website and social media accounts. |
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| Like the other business teams, Marketing has divided their responsibilities into smaller teams each managing their own task like taking photos, designing merchandise, creating social media posts, writing monthly newsletters, and managing the website.
Although the recruitment process this year was a difficult process, the team has been blitzing through training its new members. Because the team primarily uses Canva, Photoshop, and Illustrator to create their designs, the first training session consisted of teaching the new members the basics of Adobe by creating their own button designs.
Currently, the new members are beginning to take on harder design and photography tasks. With all these tasks, Marketing Captain Ethan Tawn (12) is looking forward to a great season. “[My goals are] more team bonding within marketing and with other subteams,” Tawn says. “[I want the] teams to get to know each other.”
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| | |  | Finance is a crucial component of Aragon Robotics, responsible for managing the team's financial transactions. They generate funds through parent donations and submit grant applications to major tech companies like NASA and Apple. By fostering strong relationships with these sponsors, Finance secures vital support that enables the Technical teams to thrive, as they depend on these resources to build their robots.
Similar to Outreach, they are changing it up this year by dividing the team into three subteams. “One of them will be writing grants or searching for grants online,” explains Finance Vice Captain, Keiya Wada (12). “Our second group will be updating our budget sheet. Our third group will be the more outreach focused group, in charge of emails and cold-calling.” They have recently begun to incorporate new members, teaching them to respond to certain prompts on grants.
With this change, Captain Lucas Nguyen (12) has high hopes. “My goals are… to establish relationships with more companies, keep our current connections, and create a good team environment”, Nguyen says. They are looking forward to working with PTSO along with other companies to fund the team's activities.
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| | | With such a large team, Co-Directors Aanvi Gupta (12) and Felix Ma (12) are in charge of overseeing the coordination and logistics of the entire team. These two ensure that the rest of the team operates efficiently, resourcefully, and creatively.
Although the season has just started, the Directors have expanded parent supervision, and introducing a new mentor to help the team throughout the season.
Co-Director Felix Ma has been a vital member of the team since his freshman year, beginning with FTC and transitioning to Finance in his junior year. He wants to help new members fully integrate into the community, a support system that played a significant role in his own high school experience. “My favorite part of robotics are some of the people I'm able to meet and connect with. There are many parts of the community that I value greatly, and that have greatly impacted my life.”
Co-Director Aanvi Gupta also appreciates the community and experiences at Aragon Robotics. “Whether it's the overnight competitions, qualifying for worlds for the first time in ten years, staying until late at night doing work, talking to judges at the pit, I have made so many friendships and grown so much in my confidence, knowledge, and leadership”.
Gupta has also been part of the team since her freshman year, where she was part of design and awards on FRC her freshman and sophomore year, and transitioned to Awards lead for FRC and joined Outreach her junior year. Gupta became Co-Director after seeing the growth of the team over the previous years.
As this is their final year at Aragon Robotics, they are determined to make the most of their time and contribute to the team’s growth as Directors. “I look forward to seeing all the great things our teams achieve,” says Ma.
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| | | | Newsletter Writers: Sophia Cheng, Julia Chang
Newsletter Editors: Ethan Tawn |
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