“Vulcan is the Roman god of the fire and the forge,” explains Aragon senior and Vulcan Robotics team captain Alton Olson. “Two years ago, when we were brainstorming as a team for potential ideas [for a team name], we choose Vulcan because it is symbolic of fire, endurance, and rebirth.”
In retrospect, the name epitomizes the team’s journey for the past two years. Vulcan Robotics is an independent robotics organization formed by Aragon seniors Alton Olson, Josh Pollock, Louis Villa, and Justin Lee. After a difficult first year, Vulcan won their NorCal alliance in February and advanced to West Super Regionals, where 72 teams across the nation competed. Vulcan placed first and the team is heading to the the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri in late April.
To Villa, Vulcan offered a lot more freedom than a conventional team. “Alton, Justin, and I had been on the Aragon team and we really enjoyed doing robotics. But there wasn’t enough student leadership in the design process for the robot. So after finishing that season of FIRST robotics competition, we decided to make a new team,” says Villa.
Vulcan has many differences from the Aragon Robotics team. “The primary thing that makes our team different from the school’s robotics team is the sense of ownership that we feel toward the team. Our robotics team is run completely by students, and that leads to a lot more drive to do work on the team,” says senior Horace He.
As a team, Vulcan became unique in its organizational structure. “I love the fact that the team is very loosely structured [and] being on a team where everything is super transparent. Anyone can work on any part that they want on since no one has specifically designated roles.” says Villa.
However, as a completely student-run team, Vulcan did not gain success in robot design, logistics, and fundraising immediately nor easily.
“In the beginning, everything was a challenge. Just finding the time to do robotics, get the parts, organize everything, finish the robot before competition,” says Olson. “We had to raise $2000 in our first year. We started an Indiegogo campaign and had friends and family donate money. We registered ourselves as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so all of our donations are tax-deductible [and] that helps get us more money.”
Vulcan did not succeed in their first year in the FIRST Tech Challenge. “Last year, in our first competition, we showed up with a robot that was unfinished. At a certain point we realized that we weren’t going to do well. We ended up receiving second to last place because our robot was terrible and did not work in half our matches. But we used that experience in our next competition to improve,” says Olson.
In preparation for their second year, Vulcan recruited team members from other local schools. For San Mateo junior Anna Zheng, Vulcan was an opportunity to become a part of a robotics team. “We unfortunately do not have a robotics team [at my school], so that prevents a lot of students from San Mateo from even getting the exposure to robotics and getting interested in STEM and technology,” says Zheng.
Vulcan also demonstrates an opening conversation about women in STEM. As one of the two women on Vulcan, the team has shaped Zheng’s view of women in robotics and engineering. “For me, with no prior experience with robotics, it has been very different … Being one of two girls on this team has allowed for a greater flow of ideas and many different views, perspectives, and topics of discussion,” says Zheng.
Ultimately, Olson hopes that his team members will continue Vulcan as the founding seniors leave for college. “Robotics has influenced me to study electrical engineering because of my love for robotics. I’m also hoping that the team can continue after I graduate. We recruited four new members after our first year. We’ll train those members and hopefully they will be able to keep the team running,” says Olson.
