After seven years, machines created by the Ojai Valley School Robotics program have evolved from sorting balls and stacking blocks to making money.
Well, sort of.
Earlier this month, the Gene Haas Foundation awarded a $4,000 grant to support the school’s robotics program.
This is the latest and the largest of a handful of donations solicited by robotics students this year. Those solicitations have resulted in sponsorships from local restaurants Hakane Sushi and AJ Chinese Express, as well as a grant from Panasonic.
“I was impressed with the fact that local businesses would support us,” said Upper Campus computer science teacher and robotics coach Chris Westcott, who helped found the program in the 2015-16 school year. “But to have this larger outside entity come in and, without seeing us in person, without having any kind of tour of our program, say we believe in what you’re doing from far away, I was not expecting that.”
The Gene Haas Foundation has provided more than $120 million in grant money since its inception in 1999. The foundation provides grant funding for numerous endeavors, including to public and private schools that have robotics programs that showcase manufacturing and CNC machining skills.
The OVS robotics program takes extensive advantage of the numerous manufacturing machines available including the school’s 3D printer, CNC machine, and laser cutter.
This year specifically the students have worked to create a “swerve driver,” which has required extensive 3d printing, fabrication, troubleshooting. A Swerve Drive is essentially a drive train where all drive wheels are independently driven and steered.
“This year we 3D printed at least 100 parts because each part had a dozen different failures that we’ve had to fix,” said senior Zachary Danino, who identified the Haas grant as a possible source of funding.
Zachary has been a part of the program since freshman year and is excited by the opportunities brought from the grants for the program, even after he’s gone.
“It’s really cool because we have a lot of projects you want to do, like swerve drive, and it sets us up for the future to apply for other grants,” Zachary said. “It’s kind of a stepping stone in a sense.”
The application for the grant was completed by junior Tristian Witte-Phelps, who handles Social Media, advertising and outreach for the robotics program, all which are important aspects to compete at the regional level or higher in competitive robotics events.
“When I found out (the grant had been awarded), I thought ‘Sweet!’ It’s one of the biggest contributions we have ever had,” Tristan said. “We are starting to dip our toes into this area where we find ways to help pay for the program.”
The robotics program can cost a lot of money especially for custom fabrication and complex electronic devices needed to compete with the many schools in the League and beyond.
“Every year it’s a costly process to fund the things that go into it [the robotics program]. There are always components that we would like and that are on the wish list,” Mr. Westcott said. “This is a new endeavor for them to try to raise funds for their own program to pay for their own costs of the things that they build.”
The Ojai Valley School Robotics program has two years to use the money awarded by the Gene Haas Foundation and team members are excited to see how they can utilize the funds to better the program and their team.
“I think (the Gene Haas donation) really gives a boost in morale and it helps to give some validity to what they (robotics students) are doing,” Mr. Westcott said. “It’s a reward for their efforts.”
