IA Robotics Kicks Off the 2024-25 Season

By: Samanyu Bhupalam
When rising freshmen tour IA, while walking through the engineering wing, they’re sure to see IA’s robot. Looking at it, it’s an impressive looking feat. But what’s arguably more impressive is the coordination required to manage a team of over 100 students in a relatively short time frame to create a robot to compete against schools from all around Georgia.
The Robotics season follows FRC, an international competition with over 3000 active teams, including IA. The season starts each January, where a new competition is announced, all requiring different specifications and requirements and require a robot to be ready by March for regional competitions. Those regional competitions determine placement in states, where further victorious teams place in World’s in Houston, TX. IA’s progress as a new team was staggering, making Rookie all-star and qualifying for States all within our first year.
However, the 2024 season was more of a struggle for IA. Despite our impressive robot, we did not qualify for States. When asked why, Raj Chavda (Engineering, 12th) Captain of Strategy cited a lack of communication between crowded departments within the Team. As a result, the team couldn’t meet its often-tight deadlines, leading to slowdowns and other similar problems. This meant that the new school year had to include an eye towards optimization and reorganization, which is exactly what occurred. The once 27 departments have been reduced to 7, with the Build and Strategy departments having easier channels of communication. A lot of these changes are only possible because of an incredible amount of passion from students and the advisement of teachers, creating a system that will persist through the years.
Looking at the future, IA Robotics’ looks bright claims machinist Riley Johnson (Engineering, 12th). The newly reorganized team will have its first test in October with SCRIW in an off-season competition. Alongside reorganization, the team is pushing out multiple new policies to improve student skills through workshops, especially to underclassmen where they can learn and practice skills that are often reserved for upperclassmen like metal shop. In addition, Robotics has also created a new team for underclassmen specifically, to allow for more participation and giving more students the opportunity to work directly with the robot. In addition to underclassmen support, Robotics has a strong passion for Outreach, going out to many local middle and elementary schools to show off STEM topics to foster an appreciation for the subject.
When asked, Raj said that his favorite part of Robotics was watching students flourish. As a member for 4 years, he’s witnessed students become more skilled, more confident, and has witnessed connections be formed because of the Robotics community. With the evolution of the club, Raj believes that Houston might be over the horizon.