Creating a full-scale, functioning Wall-E is only one aspect of the multi-faceted Robotics Club at Idaho State University.
The ISU Robotics Club was formed in 2010 to allow for Skills USA members and others interested in robotics to compete in competitions that related more closely to robotics.
Robotics Club adviser Shane Slack said the club has evolved a lot since then.
Currently, a big part of the club focus is to get younger kids involved in robotics in addition to working towards competitions.
The club bought a VEX (type of robotics design system) arena and some robot competition wheels so that high school and middle school students could come in and practice with their robots before going to competition.
The club hosts a summer camp every year using the arena and equipment that is actually run by Pocatello and Century High Schools’ respective Livewire and Haywire groups. They bring in middle school kids and teach them how to use the VEX equipment and ISU hosts it at their arena.
Aside from the focus on learning for middle school and high school robotics enthusiasts, the ISU Robotics Club members spend most of their energy building robots for regional competitions.
Competitions entail what is essentially a goal-oriented set of robot games.
The club’s robots compete in games to score the most points in whatever task is assigned. Groups are judged based not only their robot design, but on functionality, points earned in the task and group teamwork.
“Each year there’s a goal,” said Slack. “Last year they had six-inch balls and barrels that kind of stacked up, and the goal was to get as many of those into little containers as you could within a three minute period.”
He added, “There are lots of dynamic things that change during the games.”
On Saturday, Nov. 10, there will be a competition in Hailey, Idaho. The club does not plan to compete but it will be sending members to spectate at the competition so they can see what it is like and how it is run.
The club has also been invited to a competition at Utah State University, as well as many others this spring. Some tentative competition dates are Nov. 30, Jan. 11 and Jan. 26.
“We’ll be working to compete in at least one of those competitions,” said Slack.
“We’ve also been working to host our own regional competition for VEX that would be for both high school and collegiate competitors,” he added.
High school and middle school groups compete with one robot, while collegiate groups compete with two.
High school and middle school groups have to get so many points by attending regional competitions to qualify for the world competition each year. Collegiate groups, like the ISU Robotics Club, can essentially just sign up to compete. However, Slack said attending regional competitions first is the best way to go.
“Of course you never want the big competition to be your first time out,” said Slack.
The World VEX Competition will be held April 17, 2013, through April 20, 2013, in Anaheim, Calif.
This year will be the club’s first attempt at competing at the world competition.
The club is currently holding a fundraiser to raise money to offset travel costs and equipment costs. Members are selling laser-cut Christmas ornaments that can be either customized or chosen from a generic design, many of which incorporate ISU.
Generic ornaments will be $1 and custom ornaments will be $2 to $3 depending on how much text is desired. Miniature ornaments will be available for 50 cents.
Contact the club for more information or to order ornaments.
“Anybody that’s interested in robotics, even if you’ve never done it before, [can be a part of the club]. There’s a lot of areas. There’s graphic design, we do 3D-CAD, basic electronics, engineering and physics,” said Slack. “There’s a lot of different facets to building a robot.”
For more information or to get involved, contact the club or feel free to attend their weekly meeting.
You can see videos of the club’s full-scale Wall-E robot and more by visiting their website, which is provided in the information below.

More Club Information

President: Misty DeGiulio
Vice President:  Sunday Maust
Adviser: Shane Slack
Members: Approximately 19 ISU students
Officers: Secretary Ryan Wood, Treasurer Tyler Andreasen, Webmaster Kade Brown
Category: Academic/Common Interest
Meetings: Every Wednesday at noon in Room 301 of the Trade and Technology Building
Mission: To inspire students to pursue technical fields while fostering teamwork and creative drive
Contact Info: Email the club at ude.usinull@bulc-scitobor-usi, check them out on Facebook by visiting http://www.facebook.com/groups/isu.robotics or visit their website at https://sites.google.com/a/isu.edu/isu-robotics/.