Chamblee High School has dozens of extracurriculars.  There is a wide variety of sports, and there are loads of other clubs. Some of these clubs focus on political activity, while others are built around just having fun. VEX is a competitive robotics club where teams build robots to compete against other teams and their robots.

A captain, William O’Neil (26’) explained what being involved in VEX includes.

O’Neil said, “VEX is a robotics club where we design and build robots made of metal and program them to be run by a controller to compete at competitions on various Saturdays throughout the year.”

These competitions consist of rounds of a problem-based game.

Luke Simonsen (‘25) said, “We’re engineering a robot to solve a problem,… and the problem each year focuses on a competitive game between four teams. ”   

Simonsen further described this year’s theme for the competitions.

He said, “The game this year is called ‘High Stakes’,… and the goal is to put these multicolored rings onto stakes… It’s a lot like horseshoes.”

However, it’s not as easy as it may seem. 

Simonsen said, “To put a ring on a stake, you have to lift [the stake] up and then deposit the [ring] onto the stake, which requires some force to get it over the harpoon shape.”

Though points are mainly scored on competition day, in VEX, points can be achieved in other ways too.

Simonsen said, “Writing down the documentation of how you’re solving the problems also helps you win because you get points supplementally by having a good documentation.”

T.J. Richards (‘26) likes seeing their hard work throughout the year pay off in competitions.

“My favorite part is being able to see if our robot works and fixing any changes that we come across.”

When asked about his thoughts on recent competitions, Richards expressed disappointment for recent losses but hope for future events. 

He said, “We recently had a competition last weekend. We got to the semifinals and then lost… [Still,] I’m pretty excited for our next competition.”

However, not everyone feels so cheery.

Richards’ teammate, Twisha Saxena (‘28) said, “I am really nervous because our robot is not done.” 

VEX is team-based, so different people have different duties, all of which are essential for the team’s success.

Chamblee has four teams. 1275d consists of Luke Simonsen, Stefan Els, Lillian and Katherine Thomas, and Julie Wang. O’Neil’s team, 1275a, includes T. J. Richards, Twisha Saxena, (‘28) Camilla Herrera-Molina (26’), and Luke Phillips (25’).1275c includes Hunter Allen, Evan Fincher,  and Hansika Dinasarapu while 1275e is composed of Gia Choy, Karthik Vishwanatham, Rasesh Joshi, Andrew Watkins, and Olivia Arcememt.

As a captain, William O’Neil tries to keep his team on track to win at their competition. 

“I’m basically responsible for keeping my team on task… and making sure we’re getting our work done and making it to competitions,” said O’Neil. 

On the other hand, Luke Simonsen is the lead designer for his team, so his responsibilities involve a more creative process.

Simonsen said, “I love sitting at my desk and just drawing out design ideas,… I’ll be writing stuff down for about thirty minutes, and then all of a sudden I go, ‘Whoa, okay, let me look at these [designs].’ Then, I pick one of those, and I put it up on the computer, actually getting the specifications lined out.

Saxena similarly designs robots but builds them too. 

She said, “I’m the designer. I designed the first… robot, but [since] that was a fail, I just do the building now.” 

Though it is a commitment, members of VEX feel it is really fun. 

Richards enjoys VEX for three reasons.

“It’s fun,…I get to meet new people, and [I] learn more about robotics,” said Richards.

Saxena also has three reasons for liking VEX robotics.

She said, “[My favorite things are] the building of the robot,… how it finally comes together to do different tasks, and the winning.” 

If you want to join, there is a rigorous application, but it can be very rewarding.

Simonsen said, “If anybody’s interested, next year, you don’t have to join as a freshman. You have to apply in the spring… There’s a serious application because it’s a serious commitment, but if you are ready to commit, it’s so much fun. You’ll find yourself spending hours on [VEX Robotics] without even dreading it whatsoever. It’s wonderful.”

Richards encouraged joining VEX because of the people in it.

He wrote, “People should join because it’s an overall fun experience and allows you to be a part of a community.”

Also, people learn useful skills through robotics. 

Saxena said, “It teaches you how to code, build, and design different things.”  

O’Neil also noted the potential benefit for a college application, especially for a place like Georgia Tech.   

O’Neil said, “It’s very rewarding when your robot does well, and, also, it looks pretty good on a college resume…, especially if you’re going to a technical institute.”

O’Neil loves both constructing the robot and controlling it.

He said, “[Two] of the best parts for me are building it and actually competing because I’m also the driver [of the robot] for my team at competitions.”

VEX teams have their next tournament on Saturday, November 16th. They hope to make it to the state competition, and from there, the world competition.