Robotics Club

2023-24 Registration

Club maximum capacity has been reached. Team registration is closed!

Information & Dates (Tentative)

Start Date: September 20th, 2023 2:20pm - 3:20pm, EMS Commons

Meeting Times: Wednesdays 2:20pm - 3:20pm, (no meetings 11/1, 11/8, 11/22, 12/20, 12/27, 1/10)

Special Events:

Engineering Notebook Workshop - 9/9/2023 (for returning teams only)
Interest/Info Meeting - 9/13/2023 7 - 8pm Meeting Slides
Registration Due Date - 9/18/2023*
Coaches Meeting - 9/22/2023 7:30-8:30pm
Regular Meetings - Every Wednesdays (09/20/2023 - 02/07/2024)
Judges Interview Workshop - 11/25/23
Evergreen Private League - 12/6/2023, 1/3/2024, 1/24/2024 & 2/7/2024
Evergreen Eagles Tournament #1 - 01/07/2024
Evergreen Eagles Tournament #2 - 02/11/2024
State VIQ Championship Tournament: 03/10/2024 (subject to change)
VEX Worlds - 04/23/2024 - 05/02/2024 (subject to change)

Cost: $40 per student club fee, see below for additional costs.

Contact: robotics@evergreenptsa.org

Chairs: Wei Luo and Joanna Ma

Head Coaches: Anikait Vishwanathan and Brooke Lin

* Registration may close early if the club's maximum capacity is reached.

How Robotics Works

The Evergreen Middle School PTSA runs a Robotics Club for all students grade 6-8. This is a competitive club in which students learn about robotics concepts and build a robot to compete in the VEX IQ Global Challenge. Teams are composed of 3-5 students and at least one parent coach. Weekly meetings are held at school, and students are encouraged to take their robotics kits home between meetings to work on their robots.

Team Commitments

Robotics is a competitive club and thus requires non-trivial commitment in terms of time and effort. Additionally, please remember that Robotics Club is a student-centered, team-based activity. To be a proactive team player and to have the best experience in this activity, please think carefully about your capacity to commit to Robotics Club activities before signing up.

Commitments include:

Attendance of weekly club meetings at school
2-3 hours of work outside of school per week (per each team's discretion)
1 parent coach to manage the team (each team should have a coach to advise technically and organize all team activities); coaches must be prepared to:

Coordinate between parents, students and club chairs.
Register the team online, and manage school club and tournament fees and travel.
Organize and supervise out-of-school meetings.
Be responsible for the team and the team conduct outside the school and at tournament events.
Follow the Student-Centered Policy released by REC Foundation.
Be a PTSA member (join here) and LWSD-approved volunteer.
Follow all school and PTSA policies.

Participation in 2 Evergreen Eagle tournaments at EMS (other tournaments are available but optional)
Potential travel to state competition or even world competition based on qualification

Expenses

$40 Robotics Club fee per student (covers parts within the kit)

Additional parts may be required depending on each team’s project status (e.g., broken parts, additional sensors, etc.) Any additional costs incurred should be discussed and covered within a team.

~$45 per team one-time registration fee to enter the VEX IQ Competition (to be paid in October)
$50 - $60 per team per tournament registration fee (to be paid when registering the team online for the tournaments later in the year)

There may be more expenses for state and world competitions if teams qualify!

Club Meetings

Topics covered during club meetings include:

Structural design
Engineering notebook
Gearing basics
Programming (Blockly, RobotC)
Tournament strategy and problem-solving
SnapCAD: virtual robot design and construction
VEXcode VR: virtual robot coding

Our club meetings will be taught by a team of high schoolers led by Head Coaches Anikait Vishwanathan and Brooke Lin, all of whom have many years of both VEX IQ and VRC experience, and who have qualified and won awards numerous times at the VEX World Championships.

Following official club meetings, these high schooler coaches will be available for Q&A by email.

How to Join Robotics Club

Form a team of 3-5 students (Club advisors do not form teams and do not force students onto other teams).
Find a parent/guardian willing to be your coach.
Decide on a team name.
Use this link to enter the team's information (by team coach only).
Complete the permission slip here (each student), and submit it to the coach. Coach collects all slips and submits them to robotics@evergreenptsa.org.
Pay the Robotics Club registration fee (each student), found here.
Upon receipt of all team members' payments & permission slips, each team will be given a date and a time to pick up your robotics kit!

All steps must be completed by 9/18/2023. Because of the volume of students, this will be a hard deadline. Submissions after this date will not be accepted! Registration may close early if the club maximum capacity is reached.

Looking for a Team?

A spreadsheet has been created to assist in the self-formation of teams, which will include contact information of all students unable to form a team and teams looking for additional members. If this applies to your student, please contact the club chair at robotics@evergreenptsa.org for the spreadsheet link. If your student is unable to form/find a team by the first club meeting, or if the club has already reached its capacity, the registration fee will be fully refunded.

Stay Connected

Want to stay connected with what's happening at Robotics Club, help your student to find a team, post technical questions, look for another team to do scrimmage with, etc.?

Tap into a network of EMS Robotics parents Connect! EMS Robotics Facebook.