(February 20, 2002) -- After six weeks of working on Akidna, Latin for serpent, the Clark Magnet Robotics team shipped the robot yesterday to the Sullivan Transfer, a storage facility.

The team had attempted to run the robot in a scrimmage in Chatsworth on Sunday. Though the team planned to participate in the scrimmage, the robot ran into technical difficulties Saturday evening. This scrimmage was designed as a preparation for the Southern California Regionals competition April 4, 5 and 6 at the L.A.  Sports Arena.
The next day, the team discovered in Chatsworth that the gears were broken on the chassis and could not be run without damaging more parts. Akidna returned with the team members to be repaired Sunday afternoon.

Within the past month and a half, the team met consistently three to six times a week. JPL engineers Chris Vorhees and Daniel Limonadi taught and worked with the team while three other engineers mentored smaller groups. Voorhees said, “This competition is the best way to expose high school students to engineering.”

Along with JPL as a sponsor, Glendale Community College provided equipment and teachers to assist in the operating of machinery and the molding of robot parts. Rick Damiemi, one of the teachers, commented, “It’s fun to help with machining and making sure that no one’s fingers get cut off.”

While some operated machinery, others drilled and polished parts for the robot.

According to team member senior Anna Camacho, “We’re working hard to make sure the robot functions in time for the big competition.”

After the regionals in April, teams have a chance to go to the nationals, which were held in Florida last year.