Penn High School Robotics Mission Statement:

Reform the way we approach everday situations.

Open other's eyes to Math, Science, and Technology.

Build awareness of Engineering and problem solving.

Overlook differences and embrace similarities to build team unity.

To have fun.

Interact with the community and local businesses.

Create a final product using cutting-edge technology.

Strive to always better ourselves and the world around us.

This is what robotics means to the team members of 135 and what we hope it will someday mean to the world...

Penn Robotics is much more than a class. It is a team of motivated students who work together to accomplish one goal: to design and build a robot as a team and to have it perform well in competition.

The Penn Robotics team is part of the FIRST Robotics competition. This competition is composed of corporate sponsors, mentors, and students. The teams must design a robot that meets certain constraints (size, weight, etc.) within a given six-week period. Mentors work with the young adults on the team to achieve this goal. Both adults and students alike put in countless hours during the six crucial weeks between the start of the design and build process and the shipping date, when we must send the robot off for competition. The robot is constructed from machined parts and must contain parts from the Basic Parts Kit supplied by FIRST.

Penn High School is a wonderful host for a Robotics team because of the tremendous facility they work in. Lathes, vertical mills, a welding machine, and a manufacturing lab full of valuable machines are kept in excellent condition, which helps expedite the manufacturing process. The environment at Penn provides many new learning opportunities for the students, some of whom have never used such equipment. The team also has access to high-powered software such as Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Inventor, and 3D Studio Max on state-of-the-art computers.

The Penn High School Robotics team has been in existence for ten years. To be on the team, students must be seniors at Penn High School and apply for the Automation/Robotics course. The application process includes teacher recommendations and prerequisite classes that introduce the students to science and technology.

Allowing only those with a serious interest in the Penn Robotics program into the class has produced award-winning teamwork. Some of Penn's previous awards include the "Leadership in Control" award and the "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" award. Major corporations such as Delphi and GM awarded these for excellence in certain areas. The competitions in which Penn Robotics Competed last year included Buckeye Regional in Cleveland, Ohio, Boilermaker Regional at Purdue University, and FIRST Robotics National Competition Atlanta, Georgia. Team 135 has made it to the finals in at least one competition each of the previous years.

The team follows rules and regulations set by the FIRST Board of Directors.  Click the logo below to view the FIRST website.