Grayson Nykaza is an Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Westwood High School for AZPreps365.com

Westwood Robotics has built somewhat of a dynasty over the years. They consistently finish near the top of the standings in tournaments and finished this year with a 42-7 record. They opened the year going 24-0 before finally losing their first qualifying match.

Coach Tom Saxon is one of the main reasons for the program’s success. He’s been an engineering instructor at Westwood since 2015 and has been helping the team since before that.

Saxon started projects like this when his son, now a student at ASU, was younger. They would go to places like Legoland and take part in their events. Before that, Saxon was in the Air Force for over 20 years. After that, he was an operations manager and engineer for a construction company. Then he joined the Westwood staff.

The team first started in 2008 and they called themselves Precision Robotics. It disbanded after its first year because of a lack of resources and student involvement. It wasn’t until 2013 that the students wanted it back. They restarted the team as Westwood Robotics. Now, years later, the team has moved from a build space at Carson Junior High and now has a state-of-the-art manufacturing room on campus. The build room is complete with a CNC mill, laser cutter and vinyl cutter.

Westwood Principal Christopher Gilmore said the robotics program was a big reason he chose to come to Westwood in 2018. Starting a robotics program, and a good one at that, is a very expensive process. The machines are expensive and finding someone able to lead the club is no easy task.

Along with Saxon is drive coach Rebecca DeLong, a math teacher at Westwood. She works with the drive team, so they can navigate the robot quickly and efficiently through the game. Westwood has an all-senior drive team with head driver Connor O’Neil, co-driver Riley Layton and human element Kiona Herrera.

The robot is connected to an Xbox controller as well as a pair of joysticks. The head driver controls joysticks, which control the drive train of the robot. The Xbox remote controls the mechanisms of the robot. The human element is responsible for helping guide the robot and helping to stock the discs and balls used in the game.

The game this year consists of the robot carrying a Velcro disc and sticking it to the goal post. The robot can also score by picking up rubber balls and putting them in the goals. The final part consists of a climbing challenge to see if the robot can climb up about a two-foot-step. Some robots can only do one of the tasks and some can only play defense. Westwood’s robot could do all tasks and they had the only robot that could pick up the Velcro discs after they had fallen to the ground.

The first seven seconds of the match were coded by senior Josh Budd. He has been working on the code for the robot since last year. He said it’s pretty good but he’s always learning and never happy.

Coach Saxon had similar sentiments. At their last practice before the state championship, the team had what appeared to be a perfect practice run. At the end, Saxon smiled and said, “You’re good, but it could be better.”

Team president Tara Ruhland, a senior, has been with the team since her freshman year. She said joined the club because she thought it was a great opportunity to join a club at a school without too many resources. She also treasures the input from Saxon.

“He’s an asset,” she said. “We definitely wouldn’t be the same team without him.”

Saxon emphasized that the competition is totally different than the Battle Bots one might see in movies or TV shows.

Westwood is fortunate to have such a great manufacturing plant. Build season starts in January and although the team has been hard at work building their robot, they often use their tools and machinery to build parts for other schools’ robots.

“One match you’ll be playing against a team,” Saxon said. “Then the next match they could very well be on your team.”

The working-together aspect is one reason Saxon enjoys it so much. The teamwork of the game gives the students an experience that they can use in the real world.

The team no doubt has fun winning. They have multiple banners hanging in their gymnasium and the manufacturing facility, but they also get to experience what being on a team is like. They even grill hotdogs after every practice.

Saxon has the team poised to continue its success in the future. Though the team has many seniors who will be departing, the foundation that Saxon has put in the program should allow the team to continue its run of success.