The FRC robotics team is recruiting, and everyone is welcome to join.

That was the message Claudia Zimmerman (’19), Om Naphade (’20), and Obinna Modilim (’20) gave the student body at the town hall on April 16. Team 5160 showed off their bot, which placed a giant orange rubber ball and a plastic circle cutout in locations around the stage. While the students watching cheered and clapped, the team encouraged them to join next season.

“If you’re interested in building, or on the opposite end of the spectrum, in marketing and design, you should check it out,” said Zimmerman. She emphasized that the team isn’t just looking for future engineers but also for people interested in other fields. However, you don’t need any prior experience to join– the team, Zimmerman said, will teach you along the way.

In an email, Anna Cheng (’20) added, “Of course we design, build, and program robots, but that’s not all we do. We organize outreach events to introduce robotics to kids of all ages; we watch matches to identify the weaknesses and strengths of each robot -have you ever seen a robot match?-; we have to develop team theme/brand each year according to the game and design our pit, uniforms, and accessories to reflect this spirit.”

You can watch the robotics team’s demonstration in the video above.