Organization

To maximize the potential of every team member’s success, Jaguar robotics is broken down into five departments each with its own purpose. This separation encourages flexible collaboration between department members, simulating a workforce environment while serving as an efficient method of task management for the team as a whole. Each department puts emphasis on skills that are essential for prospective job opportunities related to engineering (mechanical and electrical), precision machining, management, marketing, and programming. These divisions are as follows:

Departments

Each department is student- lead and operates within itself but also communicates with other departments for overlapping tasks and cohesive resolution.

The Design Department brainstorms, researches, and creates the part drawings of our robots using 3D model software such as SolidWorks and AutoCAD. The completed models are then tested and adjusted accordingly and are used to create our bot.

The Machining Department is responsible for cutting and drilling materials parts used on the robot. Some cuts require precision up to a thousandth of an inch. Some in-house machinery we have available includes CNCs (Computer Numerical Control), milling machines and manual lathes.

The Electrical Department constructs the inner workings of each robot and programs (when applicable) the internal components necessary for overall functionality. As Fort Zumwalt West Highschool does not have a curriculum course detailing the development of electrical harnesses, team members learn about electrical work from our department head and mentors. This department manages the ordering of parts, electrical design, and the building and maintaining of the bots’ electrical systems.

The Documentation Department writes and officializes the content of all records within the team. Jaguar Robotics competes in a league that requires specific documentation regarding all aspects of the team’s production. These reports are formatted to fit the desired structure and must be entered by a given deadline in order to qualify for competition. This includes areas of process (detailing the robots’ assemblies, part designs, and component inventory), Shop conduct (recording meeting details, timelines and member-specific logged hours), as well as an overview of competitive strategy.

The Communications Department serves as the team’s contact for all sponsorship agreements including fundraisers, materials, mentorships and additional resources. They cooperate with FZW Jaguar Robotics Boosters Club to establish go fund mes (insert live link to current) to finance the team’s transportation to out-of-state competitions. Communications manages social media accounts that post information regarding the team and upcoming events (fundraiser dates, competition highlight clips, and other promotional information). These platforms can be found in the contact menu at the bottom of any page on the website.

Team History

Our team started in 2016 under the supervision of William Fitzpatrick, a former FZW Industrial Tech Teacher. This included as planning our documentation, determining our team divisions, and the team leadership structure. In future years, we gained experience and built our own bots to take to competitions, improving them each year.

The 2019-2020 season competition was canceled due to COVID-19. We capitalized on this pause in society by immensely improving our robot, which we called “Palminator.” We had initially struggled with the electrical systems regarding our bot, but we were fortunate enough to be mentored by Mike Moore, a design and analysis engineer from Boeing. He brought an extensive knowledge of electrical systems to the table for us, going above and beyond to ensure that we understood the material. With his help, we were able to renew Palminator. We decided to rename Palminator Sabertooth after we upgraded it. It finished ninth in the Bots KC 2021 Competition. The next season, we decided it was time to change things up; thus, our next robot, Blitz, was born. In the 2021-2022 season, we came to the competition knowing that we would go farther than we ever had. And so we did. Our only loss at BotsKC was the final round, where our own robot, Sabertooth, lost to our other robot, Blitz. At Nationals, Sabertooth placed 30th and Blitz placed 10th. This was a huge achievement for our team, for we had proven to ourselves that we could compete with the most talented teams in the NRL.

Today, we are hard at work ensuring that Blitz and Sabertooth are ready to compete in the 2022-2023 competitions. We also have set a goal of finishing a new robot we plan to name Supernova by the time competition starts. This way, we will have a varsity bot, junior varsity bot, and a freshman bot. West Robotics is looking forward to a good performance in the 2022-2023.

West High School Robotics has been lucky to be assisted by quite a few helpful and generous mentors. Josh Mroczkowski guided us in setting up Trello for our time management. Heather Mudd walked us through how to use proper grammar and be more professional in our writing. Micah, a Mitler Brothers Engineer, helped us with input on mechanical, design, and drafting. Mike Moore, as already mentioned, was an engineer from Boeing who helped us learn and understand the electrical parts of the robot.

Our Robots