“Let them take something from their mind and build it.”

That sums up the goal of the Trinity Robotics Club, according to five-year moderator Mrs. Mary Mason.

The club, which meets every Monday after school in the technology center, allows members the chance to be creative and work together.

Last year’s hybrid schedule due to COVID made working on projects difficult, but the club made the best of the situation by also meeting on Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

COVID also affected the annual competition at the end of the year. Despite the competition being cancelled, sophomore Adam Puffer attended every meeting possible.

Working with the club helped Puffer escape the challenges of the pandemic.

“I was able to challenge myself in ways that I didn’t even know I could,” Puffer said.

Puffer used the Robotics Club to push himself to do things he never could have imagined, growing as a student and a person.

Having never competed in a robotics competition, Puffer is looking forward to the challenge. He said, “This will be my first year, and I’m excited for it.”

Coming off a year with no competition, Mason, Puffer and the other club membres are ready for a chance to compete in the RoboRumble, sponsored by the Kentucky Derby Festival. For three years in a row, the Rocks won the Live Programming event, the most recent winner Egan Bohne in 2020.

The RoboRumble events include RCX, SumoBot, Sphero, Robotics Use and Live Programming.

Competition might be a focus of the Robotics Club, but it is not the only activity. Mason said, “(It’s) pretty wide open. We have VEX equipment and LEGO equipment, and students can pick and choose what they would like to work with.”

Students can come in and just have fun with the equipment or indulge in creating a VEX machine for a competition later down the road.

At this time, the club is working on a robot for a competition. “We are working on a robot right now, getting it ready and building it up,” Puffer said. “It takes a while, idea after idea, just to come up with a final product. We are still in the ideas part of our robot, building it up to see how it works, then taking it down to test a new idea.”

Mason said, “It’s fun to see what the students come up with. They are very creative and always have good ideas. To be able to watch them build what’s in their minds is fun.”

The Robotics Club helps develop skills crucial to not only success in the classroom but also in the real world. Problem solving, critical thinking, and the ability to think outside the box are all things employers look for.

The club is also a great way to meet people. “It’s fun to meet students with similar interests,” Mason said.

Puffer decided to attend Trinity partially because of the club. He said, “One of the main reasons I came to Trinity is for robotics.”

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photos by Garrett Smith