New Denver City HS Robotics Team Advances to State

by Eric

It wasn’t that long ago when the use of robots was just a dream, a dream that many thought they may not never see.

And just like that not only have robots made their appearance in the modern world, they are actually becoming more than just a toy to tinker with at Denver City High School.

Science teacher Brad Friesen teaches a robotics class and after entering several meets during the fall he took his robotics team all the way to Austin for the state meet this weekend.

Robotics is an extracurricular class at Denver City High School. The current school year (2018-2019) is the first year for Denver City to have a robotics class. Robotics is a time consuming class that takes skill.

DCHS is a school of innovation, and the class was started to motivate and introduce students to the fields of engineering and technology (or STEM careers). Robotics presents mechanical, electrical and software engineering experience to students. The course covers the construction, programming, and operation of robots.

In robotics, the students and Mr. Friesen, work with tools, computer software, and building components, such as gears, sensors, motors, etc. There are multiple roles that need to be filled in the team such as captain, advocate, engineer, programmer, notebook designer, driver, media head, and photographer.

The team is part of First Tech Challenge, or FTC. “FIRST Tech Challenge teams (up to 15 team members) are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format.”

Information obtained on the First Tech Challenge says it follows a sports model, FIRST® Tech Challenge teams (10+ members) design, build, program, and operate robots of their own design to play a floor game in an alliance format. Guided by adult coaches and mentors, students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles, while realizing the value of hard work, innovation, and sharing ideas. Participants have access to tens of millions of dollars in college scholarships.

The use of robots has actually been in the field of manufacturing for several years. Over the last 35 years, time-consuming manufacturing in the United States has undergone a fundamental shift. As millions of U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost to outsourcing and automation, output has steadily continued to grow. And while U.S. manufacturing output has decreased by only 1% since 1990, manufacturing jobs have decreased by over 30% in the same time period.

And the trend shows no sign of slowing down. With Foxconn’s three-year plan to integrate over 1 million robots into its assembly lines, more workers will soon be phased out of jobs. Foxconn founder and CEO Terry Gou says robots will help the company increase efficiency and cope with rising labor costs, but there’s no denying the fact that thousands of factory workers will be displaced.

Bottom line—the United States is producing more goods as a nation, but we no longer need the same amount of manpower to make it happen.

The DCHS Robotics team advanced to the regional level held in February in Lubbock. And now competing at the UIL State Robotics Championship on Friday, April 5th was Aaron Gladden, Alazey Mishleau, Angel Trujillo, Arlem (Fabiana) Medina, Bryan Cruz, Christian Ford, Diego Sanchez, Gavin Lynch, Jesus Landeros, Lexie Pacheco, Liberty Jones, Naomi Sanchez, Sadie Jones, & Wyatt Bryant.

In addition to teaching UIL Robotics, Mr. Friesen also teaches Computer Science, Calculator, Number Sense, Mathematics, and Science.

related articles