(Dec. 20, 2011) -- Every week since the beginning of November, the Clark robotics team Team 696, also known as the Circuit Breakers, has been meeting after school and during the weekend to plan for the Jan. 7 kickoff day of the FIRST Robotics challenge. The team will then have just three months to design, construct and program a robot.

According to the FIRST website, last season’s game rules consisted of placing inflatable tubes onto scoring pegs and the ends of the playing field. Towards the end of the challenge, the robot then had to deploy a minibot onto a pole, which then had to climb to the top of the pole. Bonus points were awarded to the fastest minibot. The Circuit Breakers’ robot Reptar placed twelfth  out of 67 teams in the regional competition.

Until the 2012 season kickoff day, however,  the teams will have extremely limited ideas as to what the upcoming season’s unique rules will be. The only hints that are given are very brief component requirements, leaving very limited time to strategize.

Circuit Breakers team president, senior Will Spurgeon said that preparation for this season has greatly changed from last year’s preseason. He said that unlike last year, the team operates out of the engineering room rather than the cinematography room. The team also has been meeting more often and more of the time during these meetings has been spent training new members.

Spurgeon also said that the selection of new members this year was more strict than previous years. “We wanted students that would be more dedicated, and come to more meetings,” he said.

New team member and freshman Michael Johnson said that he could not wait to join the team. “I heard about Clark and its robotics team six years ago,” he said. “Ever since then I’ve been waiting to come to the school so that I can join their team.”

Johnson said that he hopes to participate in the design section of Team 696, where team members use programs like AutoDesk Inventor to create 3D models of the robot. He also said that he’s looking forward to going to the actual competition where he can hopefully help the team be victorious.

Not only does the team have to worry about constructing the robot, but they also are responsible for raising funds to pay for the parts of the robot and the transportation to the competition. Spurgeon said that for this season, Team 696 has decided to try a new business strategy and attempt to raise funds through the website Kickstarter.

The premise of Kickstarter is that the team sets a specific fundraising goal and people pledge to donate money to reach said goal. If the pledge goal is reached, the pledgers donate the money. If it is not, the team receives no money. Spurgeon said that for this year the team’s goal was to raise $2,500 off of Kickstarter. He also said that as incentives for donations, the team would give donors “cool rewards” including “a Team 696 t-shirt, a programmable, mini-robot, and the chance to have your name on the robot.”

In anticipation for the 2012 robotics season, Spurgeon said that he is ready to win. “We haven’t won a regional since 2007,” he said. “It’s time we do it again.”

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If you would like to pledge money to the Circuit Breakers please visit team696.com/kickstarter.