Being a Member of the Titanium Titans
A major portion of my life began to change in the year 2018. I was entering high school that year, and I had nothing to truly spend my free time on after being away from Scouts for a few years. Nothing really caught my interest until once I was told about the Titanium Titans, a First Robotics Competition Team located in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
The third and fourth quarter of 2018 did not have me fully involved as I was starting to get comfortable being on the team, but I still participated in various outreach events. Going into 2019, everything became real as I would be taking part in my first competition season, where a new robot would be built. Robots were typically constructed based on the sizable rulebooks and the annually revealed game field. This first season made me question my capabilities as a person and if I would be a good member. After receiving encouragement from my peers and getting involved in more outreach events and off-season competitions, I began to find my place.
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The 2019-2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that did not stop our team entirely. The team still met semi-regularly with precautions in place. Going into 2021, the team was divided and began working on separate projects with the lack of a competition season. Four other members and I designed and built a Laser Pencil Engraver, which would end up being used for many outreach events. The design of this machine also helped me discover my calling, which was working with CAD
2021-2022 would mark my final competition season, but it would also see me step up to become the CAD lead for the team, as I would be heavily involved with the design aspects of the robot. This final season would be one of our best seasons yet, and I was delighted at how things had ended.
These photos show me involved with the construction of major components of competitions robots, with the leftmost image being the prototype swerve drive, where the robot can steer 360 degrees. The last image shows a team building exercise where I was chosen to manage a small team to see how well I would do.
The image below shows me and another teammate holding a banner of our logo during the Whiskey Rebellion Festival Parade in 2019.
An image of me and another teammate working with children with a LEGO program that lets them build and program their own mini robots.
Another image of myself working with children with the same LEGO program during the city's STEMFest, a local event that allows STEM-focused groups show what they are working on and let those who are interested join in.