The Franklin Regional FRobotics team was watching its robot undergo its inspection, one of the last steps before competing at the March 2020 robotics competition in New York. And that was when competition organizers sent everyone home as covid-19 shutdowns began in earnest across the state’s schools.

So when the FRobotics team went to a competition in October, its members were using the same robot from the previous year.

“The competition was the game that our robot was designed for but never got to play,” said team adviser Amy Sheridan.

And while the team did not come out on top in the competition, its members are ready to gear up for more. They also have a good head start, thanks to a $10,000 grant from the nonprofit FR Panther Foundation, which allowed them to purchase new equipment and relocate from team mentor Greg Vincent’s Murrysville space to the former cafeteria in Newlonsburg Elementary School.

“We’ll eventually be able to have our workshop in the old kitchen area and use the cafeteria for practice,” Vincent said.

The team competes in a variety of arenas and has had a good bit of success, including at events organized by STEM-focused nonprofit FIRST, which culminate in an annual international robotics competition that will take place in Houston in the spring.

Senior Kalinda Wagner, 17, was part of the FIRST LEGO competition team when she was in middle school. When she reached high school, she was in the band’s trumpet section with FRobotics alum Courtney Sheridan, who introduced her to the team.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Wagner said.

Junior Yashvi Rastogi, 16, found the outreach component of the FRobotics team was what suited her.

“I found that I didn’t enjoy wiring and building as much, but I really liked doing presentations and the ability to be creative in that way,” Rastogi said.

The outreach and marketing side of FRobotics — the team solicits donations and corporate sponsorships and brings robotics presentations to community events and other school districts for younger students — also appealed to Courtney Sheridan’s younger sister, senior Kathleen.

“I’m excited to do marketing and outreach,” Sheridan said. “But I also noticed that, after going to some of the workshops, I started doing more because it was all fun.”

Not one to be left out, the youngest Sheridan sibling, 14-year-old freshman James, already has plenty of secondhand experience watching his sisters compete.

“I’ve probably been to more of these robotics competitions than most members of the team,” he said.

For the most part, the team has spent time moving into its new space, according to junior Darius Colangelo.

“We’ve been doing some training and talking about things like what programming language we’ll use this year,” said Colangelo, 17.

Next up for the team is the kickoff of the FIRST competition season. On Jan. 8, the team will receive a manual that lays out this year’s “game” — essentially, the problem for which they will have to design, engineer and build a robot.

They also will have somewhat of a brainstorming session with another robotics team in neighboring Gateway School District before they get to work on their custom robot.

Vincent said it has been bittersweet moving the team out of his garage.

“Having all of this space (at Newlonsburg) and being able to replicate all the abilities I had at home is wonderful,” he said. “I have to drive to the school now for these sessions, but it’s also pretty nice to not have the garage filled with projects in various stages of completion.”

For more on the team, see Team4150.wordpress.com.

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