“The arm will be like this,” said senior David Stonestrom, moving a small Lego lever back and forth on a robot prototype.

Senior Mike Frownieski said, “But we will need to add weight to the bottom,” his eyes swaying, as if he were watching the pendulum of a grandfather clock.

Although the two are using Legos, they are not playing around. Both are working hard building prototypes of a part that the Robotics team is developing for a mechanical beast that they hope will destroy competition in their Las Vegas regional competition on Fri., Mar. 30 and Sat., Mar. 31, 2007.

With the loss of last year’s Robotics team captains and a new regional challenge, not only do Stonestrom and Froniewski have to work hard; the whole Robotics team also works intensely to finish the robot by Thurs., Mar. 28 when the team will fly out to the Las Vegas competition.

Last year, the robotics team won first place at the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Las Vegas Regional and will be competing again this year at another FIRST competition in Las Vegas.

This year the team has to face two big differences: not only the loss of former Robotics members who have now graduated, specifically last year’s captains, but a new game challenge in the regional competition.

“We have new leadership and are a bit behind schedule,” junior and co-build captain Mike Tramiel said.

Senior and animation captain Michelle Chan said, “We lost our best builders.”

Chan is referring to Clark Willison and Cameron Tacklind, co-captains of the team last year.

Co-build captain junior Danny Fukuba who worked under Willison and Tacklind last year said, “Last year the seniors did most of the work.”

The team also has to adjust to the new challenge this year in the FIRST competition. It consists of putting inner tubes on to a circular rack, much different than last year where the robots had to score baskets in a challenge much like a game of basketball.

“The challenge is much harder this year but it is really interesting,” Fukuba said. “It’s very cool and there are so many possibilities to build.”

Even with the new challenge in the competition, the team seems to know what they are up against and has a plan for what they are going to build.

“Our robot also has the same wheels and motor as last year,” junior Guy Davidson said.

Chan said, “We are adding an arm for the robot and a better frame. We’re building on experience.”

Even with loss of seniors who graduated, team members are still seem optimistic because of the promising new members that robotics has gained.

“It is a bit harder than last year without the seniors,” Davidson said. “But we have a bunch of juniors like Danny Fukuba and Mike Tramiel.”

Chan said, “This year we’re more on schedule compared to last year. We also have Blake Tacklind, Cameron’s younger brother, on build. He has worked with robotics before and build with his dad.”

Besides Blake Tacklind joining the team, other freshmen have joined as well.

“We’re working on training them all now,” Fukuba said. “It’s a lot more work this year to train them all, but next year they will be trained and ready. Last year a lot of freshman came from Jordan, now as sophomores they must have told other people to join robotics through word of the mouth.”

With the cons of such a different challenge in the FIRST competition and the loss of senior graduates, the robotics team hopes the pros new team members and experience will out-weigh the cons and lead the team to victory in Las Vegas.

“There are a lot more people this year,” Chan said. “They’re pretty motivated. We have the ability.”

The FIRST Regional Competition in Las Vegas will start on Thurs., Mar. 30, 2007. The team also has a competition in San Jose starting on Fri., March 16, 2007.