Down in the 800 wing, squished between numerous math classrooms, lies a world where metal becomes man, math formulas become recipes for a moving machine, and a group of Mitty students become engineers, scientists, physicists, and inventors.

It is the room where the AMHS Robotics Team holds court. This determined group works hard to turn a few pieces of ordinary metal into an imitation of a human being, with color vision, a reaching arm, and the ability to function without human control for 15 seconds.

Almost all activities and plans of the Robotics team revolve around a major competition called F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration Recognition in Science and Technology), an annual worldwide event with participating teams from as far as Canada and Israel.

For the tournament, each team creates a 130 lb. robot, programs it to take on certain qualities and abilities, and enters it in specific challenges.

As you may remember from last year's assembly, Mitty's team programmed their first robot to hang on a bar, winning them the title of Highest Rookie in Silicon Valley.

According to the team's moderator, Mr. Fairley, "Our key to success last year was probably that hanging arm; we think it's going to show up a lot again this year."

This year's robot promises to be just as competitive and inventive and complex as its predecessor.

This year's competition is "a twisted-form of tic-tac-toe," according to design captain Taylor Weiss. "Our robot has to stack tetrahedrons on the top of pillars; three in a row wins."

The team is only given six weeks to program their robot. According to Weiss, the robot this year will be similar to this year's but the team is working to slim it down.

Sophomore Scott Strutner reports that much of the programming is done by Mr. Green's C++ class. However, the team members do a lot of the work also.

"We just spent about 4 days figuring out the appropriate speed and angle at which the arm of the robot should move." Strutner claims, "Robotics is really not as hard as it seems. Mr. Fairley, Phil Baltar (a Mitty graduate) and Mr. Greene are great mentors, and teach us everything we need to know. I found that all the random math I learned throughout the years is really put to good use during robotics."

Creating this masterpiece is not the only work to be done; a major part of the students' job requires marketing the team to various companies and groups.

According to sophomore Andy Chu, "We market to get our presence known in the community".

Although the team received a generous $10,000 grant from Mitty this year ($6,000 of which is put towards the F.I.R.S.T. admissions fee), various companies also donate money and/or materials to the Robotics Team fund.

Some students may be intimidated by this amazingly gifted group of students and feel they lack the skills needed to join the team.

But, as Chu explains, "Robotics is like a small business...there are jobs for anyone and everyone. Eveyrone starts out as a rookie--you will be taught everything you need to know."

So next time you're heading down to algebra, take a peek inside the physics lab and discover this amazing world of Mitty Robotics.