About Us

Paly Robotics is dedicated to enriching the education of its members through building, programming, animation, and community outreach. Our team is focused on learning new skills, which include technical skills, communication skills, leadership skills, and teamwork. We are proud to be a completely student-run team and our finished projects are always a result of our student's work.

FIRST

The Paly Robotics team is happy to have been a part of FIRST for over 20 years. FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, has a term "gracious professionalism" that we believe everyone should abide by. To read more about FIRST go to their website.


Subteams

Design

Good design is key to developing a successful robot, and this is the job of the Design Team. Design Team leads the team in prototyping, allowing different mechanisms and ideas to be built and tested out. After determining which prototypes work the best, Design Team creates a computer-aided design (CAD) of the robot before it is built.

Build

The Build Team is in charge of — you guessed it — building the robot! The Build Team takes a design and makes it a reality, thanks to Team 8's plethora of tools, including a lathe, CNC mill, laser cutter and 3D printer. In addition to machining, Build Team members learn about topics such as robot wiring and pneumatics systems, bringing all of this knowledge to help create the final product.

Software and Scouting

Writing code in Java and Python, the Software and Scouting Team works alongside Build Team to test our robot and make it functional. In addition to autonomous and human control of the robot, they code features such as computer vision and a dashboard to display the robot status during matches. They are also responsible for developing applications for data collection and analysis. We publish our projects here: www.github.com/team8.

Art

The Art Team manages the team's public image with an emphasis on professional animation and graphic design. With Adobe Illustrator, Art Team designs our custom merchandise, such as t-shirts, banners, posters, and buttons. During the Build Season, their focus is on the FIRST Safety and Digital Animation awards, using Blender animation software and Premiere Pro to make the magic happen.

Business

The Business Team has ensured the financial sustainability of the team, winning the Entrepreneurship Award seven times since its inception in 2015. Business Team oversees all corporate sponsorships, fundraising, outreach, awards, and public relations efforts. Every year we develop business, sponsorship, and diversity plans.


Sponsors