Launching a robotics program is a challenging endeavor for several reasons. Robotics programs demand a major up-front investment of capital and continued reinvestment to remain relevant, particularly in a competition setting. Robotics programs also require lots of space to be successful, meaning that the competition and curricular spaces frequently have to be shared. Because of this, they require careful consideration about how best to structure the classroom environment so that the needs of the competition teams do not overwhelm the assessment needs of the classroom. While teaching at RIS, I launched our entire Robotics program in the MS from scratch and while teaching at SJA, I launched our HS competition teams. Both of these experiences have provided me with considerable experience in managing budgets, planning long term projects, and coordinating logistics across multiple teams.
Each of these program launches has come with budgetary considerations. In order to successfully launch and expand the programs, I have built detailed proposals which presented the need and a range of possible price points at which we could meet those needs. These proposals included precise costs and reasons for each item which needed to be purchased. When possible, it also included cheaper alternatives, where possible, and timelines which would allow us to spread the costs out.
These proposals ranged from roughly $15,000 in a year up to nearly $90,000 in year for a major program expansion. In both schools, versions of my proposal were accepted with minimal modifications because of the detail and planning put into them.
A successful robotics program, particularly a robotics competition program, is built over a series of years rather than in a single project. Student expertise needs to be cultivated and passed on from experienced members to newer members from year to year so that the teams do not begin anew with each year. This development takes time and intentionality on the part of the coaching team. In both of the teams that I have founded, experienced students have been taught to mentor other students. This mentoring gave newer members the skills needed to grow into strong teams.
In addition to long term team building, robotics programs also require extensive long term planning for tournaments and leagues. Tournaments need to be booked and scheduled in the school year before they are hosted. This requires coordinating with multiple groups to reserve spaces, order fields and other hosting equipment, get the tournament approval through RobotEvents, and communicate the event to other coaches so they can sign up. Having gotten other teams to sign up, there is still planning and organization required to design the floor plan, position the fields for easy setup, and to coordinate with facilities to set up and tear down the event safely. Each tournament requires 20-30 adult volunteers, who need to be recruited and then trained in their roles. Each of these tournaments requires planning over the course of a month or more in advance of the actual date to ensure a successful event.
In my first year running our robotics program, I did this for two tournaments on the same day (MS and HS). The second year, I hosted 1 MS tournament, 1 HS tournament, and the HS Korean National Tournament. The Korean National Tournament, in particular, is a large tournament including up to 50 teams from all over Korea. It must be well executed, as it is a Qualifying Event, meaning the top teams from that tournament will earn a slot at the World Championships. This year, the event was held over two days and required extensive coordination with Vex and with Seoul Foreign School, as they are the lead school for the KAIAC league robotics teams.
Robotics programs require a firm grasp of logistics, planning, and organization. In the physical spaces, robotics programs require considerable investment of time and energy in storing and organizing equipment to minimize the need to order equipment which you already have. While this sort of logistics may seem straight forward, it can prove very complicated for a robotics classroom. For example, Vex Robotics V5 robotics kits include 10 different lengths of screws. They include 8 different kinds of spacers, 3 different kinds of nuts, and 2 different kinds of shaft collars. This is before you even consider the structural components, which teams are expected to cut to the specific lengths which they need. Without a clear organizational system, robotics programs can be extremely wasteful.
Travelling with a robotics program is even more complicated, as you need to arrange for the safe transport of fragile robots and also so spare parts and tools to repair them. I have taken robotics students on two different trips for tournaments, once to Seoul and once to Dallas for the World Championships. Both of these trips, I was very careful to structure the trip to give the students time to check and repair damage to their robot before and after the tournament.