Local Students from Orange County Build a Robot from Scratch

09 February

9/2/2019: Every year thousands of students from around Orange Country compete in the First Robotics Competition. The parameters of the competition are to build a robot that can compete in the “game” or obstacles course. FIRST announces the parameters of the course at the beginning of each year. There are over 3,000 teams competing, and each team has only 6 weeks to create the winning robot.

Clockwork Orange - Orange County Teams

In Orange County, we have a wonderful non-profit group called Clockwork Oranges that helps our local students participate. In November of 2018 a group of local high school students decided to take on the challenge.

Now, three months later they are in the final stages of development. The robot has a PID controller, two-stage elevator capabilities, left and right auto switch scoring, can climb, as well as a pneumatic power cube collector. These attributes were thought-out and designed to specifically compete in this year’s games. The students have been able to utilize their mathematics and STEM skills in a real-world application that is not typically available at high schools.

At M&R Engineering, we have realized that the mathematics and STEM skills that the students learn while building their robot directly transfer over to valuable skills sets in the manufacturing and engineering industries. As a CNC machine shop, it has been a pleasure to watch the students grow in these areas and help foster their knowledge in ways we know will assist them in their future careers and endeavors.

How Clockwork Orange Began

Clockwork Oranges was founded in 2011 by a small group of students and professional engineers. With no resources to utilize the group started by working out of a run-down auto shop. After sourcing money from local companies that were willing to donate to their cause, the group was able to convert the old auto-shop into the robotics lab the group uses today.

Now Clockwork Oranges helps teach local kids about science, technology, engineering, project management, development, design, fabrication, assembly, graphics, and math skills, as well as soft skills like professionalism, business skills, and teamwork.

How You Can Get Involved

They are currently funded by the local community through sponsorships like the one we have committed to. As a machine shop in Orange County, we love the opportunity to help our community grow! If you are interested in getting involved and supporting our local high school community click here.