1

Behind the Gears

Daisy Sepulveda

Languages & Cultures, Arizona State University

ENG 101: First-Year Composition

Kayla Rakita

November 19, 2022

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Behind the Gears

Robotics has been known to be a part of many communities because it is considered

technology. Throughout the years, high schools have created clubs around the world who come

together to create robots annually to compete in a friendly competition. They have had to learn to

cooperate with one another along with competing against their own teammates. The terms

gracious professionalism and coopertition were coined through these competitions to remind

students and anyone involved in the robotics community on how to carry themselves while being

at these events. Through continuous observations of the community in action and interviews,

there were discoveries made about robotics that would not be easily seen as an onlooker who has

not had experience interacting with robotics, especially in a friendly and competitive way.

Despite the preconceived notion that high school clubs are usually not a big deal if they aren’t

your typical sports team, high school robotics requires a lot of commitment from its students

along with funding and it is not limited to a certain age range or gender, in spite of robotics being

seen as a more male-dominated field.

Research Methods

I went to a robotics competition that is under Arizona Robotics League, which is an

off-season FIRST Robotics competition series held in Arizona and is hosted by Cactus High

School once a month. It is an all-day event that begins around 8:30 am and does not end until

around 5 pm. I went to the qualifier competition held on October 30, 2022. I spent the event

observing and even participating with team 2662, known as RoboKrew, which is the robotics

club from Tolleson Union High School and University High School. I was able to scout as well

as be a drive coach for the team throughout the event. Later on I went to the championship event

on November 12, 2022. I was able to both observe the different teams as well as help in the pits
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by assisting on working on both of RoboKrew’s robots. The method in which I recorded my

observations was through taking images along with working off of memory. I interviewed a total

of four people; three people were interviewed through a call and one individual was interviewed

through email. The three people consisted of two of my sisters, a member of Cactus High

School’s robotics team. Ashley is a sophomore at University High School and she is the

co-president of RoboKrew. Along with her role as co-president, she is also one of the drivers on

the team. Melissa is one of RoboKrew’s sponsors and a lead mentor in the community. A mentor

is a person who is in charge of the children and helps them in different areas and skills to

properly become leaders. I decided to interview my sisters, Melissa and Ashley Sepulveda

because they were one of the easier members to get in contact with; additionally, they were open

to being interviewed at a later time as it was a very busy time period between events because of

preparation and the pressure that comes with competing made it difficult to interview them

during the events. I also interviewed Judah Wood, he became an acquaintance through the

process of competition. Judah is a freshman at Cactus High School, but has been working in their

club since he was in seventh grade. I was able to get a virtual interview with him to be able to get

a perspective I would not have been able to receive from one of the members of RoboKrew, and

he is a student who is opposite sex from the previous two interviewees which could result in

different answers than what I had been able to collect. My last interviewee was Chiaki Yamada,

who had an email interview. He is another sponsor and one of the lead mentors for FIRST

Robotics Competition (FRC) team 2662, Robokrew, and his main role as a lead mentor is to

provide guidance and support for high school students, so they can manage a successful robotics

team. Each interview was recorded through voice memos and later transcribed so their exact

wording could be used in the discussion of the robotics community.

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Discussion

The robotics community always comes together to participate in friendly competitions

throughout the year. Just recently, the Arizona Robotics League gave high school teams the

opportunity to be able to train their drivers and experiment on previously made robots. The

community includes a range of diverse people of varying backgrounds and ages. Most of the

competitors, though, are seen to be passionate high school students who are willing to go above

and beyond to make their robot and the robots of their counterparts succeed in competition.

Every team has the opportunity to work with one another as well as compete with each other.

There is no knowing how one will do until they are on the field (seen in figure 1) and competing.

Everyone works together to follow the rules and compete fairly with the robots their team has

built in the past. They present their skills and knowledge both on the field and in the pits,

supporting all teams and presenting themselves in a professional matter. Additionally, one of the

interviewees mentions, “All the support and love we get from our parents and people who come

to our fundraisers means literally everything to us because they’re allowing us to do what we

love to do every single day” (J. Wood, personal communication, November 19, 2022). This

community has varying levels of knowledge and resources, but overall it is very supportive of its

members and continues to show it through a myriad of methods like those mentioned by Judah.

Both on and off of the field there are different influences which can be seen in the

robotics community, whether it is experience or resources. Funding plays a big role in how much

a team is able to do with their robot. This being said, each robot is able to participate in the

competitions and teams are encouraged to continue to try to modify their robot to be able to do

more or perform better throughout the series of events that are presented to them. These

modifications can be seen being made in the pits at times. Some teams brainstorm and come up
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with the materials they need and even risk adding changes that will enhance their performance

on the field. Everyone is constantly working hard in the pits to fix anything that they noticed

went wrong with their robot. Funding presents a constraint on how much some teams are able to

do with their robot, which can make a notable difference in skills that a robot can do. A.

Sepulveda mentioned, “You can always tell which teams are able to get a lot more funding

because they are always doing more advanced/fancy stuff whereas teams with less funding

would have a defensive robot or their robot can’t do as many things” (personal communication,

November 16, 2022). The fancy stuff described were the actions done by the robots which would

inevitably be able to score them more points, whether it was scoring into a higher hub or being

able to climb (seen in figure 2). M. Sepulveda talks about how “older teams tend to win more

because they have more people mentoring them from previous years” (personal communication,

November 16, 2022) which adds to what Ashley had to say about the more funded teams.

Despite being such a diverse community, it is noted how some ideas are not as welcome

as others. Everyone is encouraged to participate and be a part of the competition. Although this

may happen, there are still some stereotypes in the community which can be seen with both

companies and inside with the teams. Both Ashley and Melissa talk about the stereotype of the

robotics community being more for males, which is incorrect. In both interviews the topic of

being ignored or overlooked were common when feminine-identifying people tried approaching

their male counterparts in competition. Ashley mentioned, “In the last competition, the build

captain, Marissa, was speaking to one of the alliances in order to strategize on how they would

play the next game and after she was done talking, the other teams disregarded her telling their

teammates to not listen to her and that she didn’t really know when in reality she has been on the

robotics team for 4 years and is very experienced and knows what she is doing” (A. Sepulveda,
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personal communication, November 16, 2022). This shows just how girls may be treated

differently despite the diversity that is presented in the community. Additionally, C. Yamada

spoke on this topic as well, “With a large majority of the robotics teams being male-dominated, it

is often difficult for many students to engage or let alone participate in the robotics team. This is

true considering a small percentage of robotics students and mentors are female” (personal

communication, November 18, 2022). Although misogyny can be seen throughout the

community, many members, both young and old, are constantly putting in an effort to create a

community that is welcoming to everyone and have everyone be considered as equals when

competing.

Conclusion

Although robotics may not be your typical sport that brings in big crowds of fans who

will do the imaginable when their team wins or loses, they are a group of passionate individuals

who become knowledgeable on ideas and concepts being seen more and more as society

continues to rely on technological advancements. Some people may describe them as nerds, and

although this is true, the word “nerd” is not perceived to have a negative connotation within this

community. People are invited to join the community as spectators or competitors to the

interactive competitions held year-long. Just like with many communities, there are still some

inequalities that separate some of the newer groups who join from others, but even then everyone

comes together and helps one another to be successful and compete with one another by using

both coopertition and gracious professionalism. There are also stereotypes that still need to be

broken in order to make the community a safer and more welcoming place for everyone and

anyone, which should start with being more inclusive of feminine counterparts and then taking

steps to include people who are considered to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community because
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anyone and everyone can be a part of the STEM field so there should be no stopping individuals

from joining now and treating them differently.

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Appendix A

Questions Answers

Ashley Sepulveda: You can always tell which

teams are able to get a lot more funding
because they are always doing more
advanced/fancy stuff whereas teams with less
funding would have a defensive robot or their
robot can’t do as many things, but their team
still tries to make up for it by training their
drivers well and playing a lot of defense.
- Fancy stuff: “If I were to describe it in
detail, it would be like hanging on the
traversal bar, which requires a lot of
precision because if you do it
incorrectly your robot could end up
falling anywhere from 3 or 4 feet and
breaking… Another fancy thing would
be the inclusion of limelights and
cameras, which some teams aren’t
able to afford.”
- Offensive bot vs. Defensive bot: “An
What kind of effect do you see these
offensive bot can shoot balls into the
hubs. A defensive bot will try to get in
influences having on the community?
between the offensive bots and the
hub, basically trying to deter the other
team from scoring points.”
Melissa Sepulveda: “With the clubs and the
robotics teams themselves, a lot of students
see if they like the STEM field and they are
able to go and become STEM major, so some
of them go into engineering, other go into
technology, some go into computer science
and they come back and help again. It’s a
cycle; they go, they learn, and they return and
bring back information. Also older teams tend
to win more because they have more people
mentoring them from previous years. When
they come back from college, they are able to
provide more resources: knowledge, money,
and sometimes it's the opportunity of getting
them to gain internships and funding from
companies. If you know people you get
money! It’s about getting connections.”
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Ashley Sepulveda: “Girls,

Female-presenting, or Femine-presenting
people aren’t as capable as their masculine
counterparts, which isn’t true a lot of the time.
As a matter of fact it’s mostly the feminine
people who actually contribute more to their
teams or are spending more time in the club.
In the last competition, the build captain,
Marissa, was speaking to one of the alliances
in order to strategize on how they would play
the next game and after she was done talking,
the other teams disregarded her telling their
teammates to not listen to her and that she
didn’t really know when in reality she has
been on the robotics team for 4 years and is
very experienced and knows what she is
doing. It was pretty unjust.”
Are there any stereotypes that you have seen
Melissa Sepulveda: The robotics community
is going through a lot of controversy right
about this community? Are they right/wrong?
now. One of the big companies that sells robot
parts got called out for being sexist and a bad
work environment. So I guess a big stereotype
is that robotics is more for boys than it is for
girls and that’s not true because it’s for
everyone and anybody should be able to join
robotics. We want to make sure that we are
being inclusive to everybody because anyone
can go into this field no matter who you are or
what your background is… There are boys on
other teams that are sexist; they won’t
communicate with girls because they don’t
believe that girls should be there. I don’t
know if that’s what they personally believe or
if it is forced upon them by their parents or
team. There are teams that are all girls, but
with RoboKrew, we try to be as inclusive as
possible.”

Judah Wood: Without our community, we

wouldn’t be a team. All the support and love
we get from our parents and people who come
What is the importance of this group to you?
to our fundraisers means literally everything
to us because they’re allowing us to do what
we love to do every single day. They’re giving
us the opportunity, the funds, and the time to
stay after school. We wouldn’t have a team
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without our community and that’s why we

love our community in general.

Email Interview - Chiaki Yamada

1. How did you come to know about this community and what made you want to join?
I first learned about the robotics community or FIRST (For Inspirations and Recognition of
Science and Technology) when I accepted the physics teaching position at University High
School. During my initial tour of the school in 2019, the academic dean simply stated, “You
just have to make sure the students don’t shank each other”. Little did I know at the time, the
statement would be a precursor to many opportunities for me to learn and love a robotics
community dedicated to simply building robots. One of most impressive and beloved aspect of
FIRST was the fact high school students would spend six to seven weeks building robots to be
able to compete in yearly themed games. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was
not able to witness the full FIRST experience until I attended a regional competition in March
of 2022. At the regional competition, I witnessed students come to life with their robots and
work cooperatively to problem solve within a short time frame.

2. Do you feel that there are influences on this community, whether it is through teams
or just experience-wise? Why or why not? (What makes you feel this way?)
The larger, more-successful robotics teams have the greatest influence on the robotics
community at-large. Many of the more-successful teams set the standard and expectation for
other small-/less-successful teams. For example, if a successful team were to stop the use of a
product line, then the other teams will quickly follow to stop the use of the same product line.
Additionally, the positive experiences high school students gain from participating in robotics
influences the community. The parent organization of FRC, FIRST, emphasizes importance of
the ethos the community wholeheartedly embraces. This takes the form of Gracious
Professionalism, where students learn transferable skills while having fun at robotics
competitions. Some of the transferable skills include networking, problem-solving, and critical
thinking.

3. What kind of effect do you see these influences having on the community?
There are positive and negative effects to previously mentioned influences. With the larger and
more-successful teams dictating the standard and expectations, it often puts an immense
amount of pressure and stress on the smaller, less-successful team. This is due to many teams
having less funding and resources to be able to keep up with the standard and expectations of
the larger, more-successful teams.

4. Are there any stereotypes that you have seen about this community? Are they
right/wrong?
Unfortunately, there are some negative stereotypes about the robotics community; Female
students are often discriminated against within robotics. Robotics and its communities are
male-dominated and at times, can be misogynistic. With a large majority of the robotics teams
being male-dominated, it is often difficult for many students to engage or let alone participate
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in the robotics team. This is true considering a small percentage of robotics students and
mentors are female.

5. Would you consider the stereotype of everyone who participates in this community
to be described as nerdy?
Absolutely! With that, it is not a negative attribute of the community or its members. Everyone
within the community invests their time, energy, and passion into the most complex tasks and
problems that FRC has to offer. This, as a result, breeds innovation, cooperation, problem-
solving and leadership skills.

6. Have you ever faced any hardships that were directly related to the community? How
have you overcome those hardships?
One of the main hardships within the robotics community is addressing the misogynistic
attitudes that are still prevalent today. There have been many occasions where many of our
female students were overlooked or dismissed by other teams, simply for being a female
student. In those instances, the students are often taught different coping skills and methods
for addressing those repulsive behaviors.

7. Has there been a hardship that made you consider leaving the community?
The one main hardship that made me consider leaving the community was the challenge of
setting and meeting expectations. As one of the lead mentors, there is an immense amount of
pressure, not only to bring forth an extraordinary amount of passion daily, but to set and
maintain the expectations for the team. My overall expectation for the team is to continue
making improvements, whether it be the team’s day-to-day operations or productivity. There
have been many instances where it felt as if the team was not making any progress, nor the
team cared enough to persevere through the obstacles and challenges.

8. Is there anything that bothers you about the community?

FIRST has made strides for making STEM-related career fields more accessible for
historically
underrepresented groups of people; However, it has become increasingly evident there is still
progress to be made to create a safe and welcoming environment for all people. Within this
past week, countless stories and experiences have shared by female students and students who
identify as part of the LGBTQ community. Many students and alumni of FIRST have been
scrutinized or harassed due to their identity or affiliation. These experiences highlight the
overall community need to continue conversations on how to make STEM accessible and not
just for the sake of “creating” a concern of the larger problem. More FRC teams need to make
conscious effort in creating an inclusive environment as opposed to an exclusive “all-boys”
engineering club. What is even more bothersome is change can happen now and it is relatively
easy to implement. For example, mentors and current students can simply change for the
better by adjusting the tone and language in which people interact with each other. In many of
the shared stories, many female students have detailed of feeling underestimated and looked
down upon after leaving a conversation away from some of male members on the team. If
more mentors and students were cognizant of their language, a more diverse group of students
would join and remain with the robotics team.
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9. What is the importance of this group to you?

FIRST and its communities are very important to me as they have allowed me to provide
experiences beyond the classroom for my students. Within a classroom setting, it is rare to find
instances where students can authentically engage with a STEM-related career field such as
engineering. Many students have graduated high school and have go on to pursue an
engineering-related careers due to their experience with robotics. This factor alone motivates
me to continue to provide and support in which students can participate in robotics as it has
opened opportunities for many people and will continue to do so.

10. What do you want people to know about this community?

Robotics is a challenging yet rewarding experience! If you are a high school student, I
encourage anyone to find a team and participate in robotics even if the goal is not to pursue a
STEM-related career. I wholeheartedly believe many students walk away with many
memorable moments and skills to be more successful. If you are not a high school student, I
encourage anyone to find a team and volunteer regardless of experience as there are many
teams desperate for a mentor to guide them. Many teams struggle in just organizing and
maintaining a team as they lack proper guidance or resources for securing a mentor.
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Appendix B

- Ashley: was constantly being patient and instructing a newer driver

on the team on how to drive the robot and what to do, all while

praising the attempts despite having lots of issues with the robot.

- Marissa: is the build team captain and had stayed in the pits and the

bleachers making sure to observe and work on the technicalities of

the robot. She would troubleshoot the problems they faced while also
People
instructing other team members in assisting her.

- Clinton: is a mentor for the team, one of the drive coaches, and a

programmer. He would help both the drive team and build team with

the robot by making sure they knew what they were doing and would

direct them towards the right direction when it came to the things

they needed to do.

- Cactus High School

- In a gym (competition rounds held) and in a pit (where building and

lunch occurred)
Place
- Bleachers for audience and other teams

- Main gym floor held the stage and objects for the competition

- Competition. Three teams against another three teams. They are

trying to score as many points as they can within 2 minutes by

Activities
having their robots score points through throwing balls along with

hanging.
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- Scouting. Team members who are not in the pit or driving the robot

are scouting by spotting the good things and bad things about each of

the other robots. By gaining this information the teams know which

team to partner with when it comes to making alliances.

- Pit Crewing. Select group of team members who work on fixing

anything that went wrong with the robot or working on improving

aspects about the robots. There are also members who work on the

coding for the robots to enhance their performance.

- Gracious professionalism: “a way of doing things that encourages

high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects

individuals and the community. With Gracious Professionalism,

fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions. Gracious

professionals learn and compete like crazy but treat one another with

respect and kindness in the process. They avoid treating anyone like

losers. No chest thumping tough talk, but no sticky-sweet platitudes

Words
either. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably

blended” (Vision and Mission, 2022).

- Coopertition: “displaying unqualified kindness and respect in the

face of fierce competition. Coopertition is founded on the concept

and a philosophy that teams can and should help and cooperate with

each other even as they compete. Coopertition involves learning

from teammates. It is teaching teammates. It is learning from

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Mentors. And it is managing and being managed. Coopertition

means competing always, but assisting and enabling others when you

can” (Vision and Mission, 2022).

- Autonomous: the first 30 seconds of a match where the robot

functions only off of code and is not controlled during the drivers.

All points scored are doubled during this time. The human player is

allowed to attempt to score a ball during this time by throwing a ball

in their position.

- Taxi: the points earned when a robot moves outside of the taped area

during autonomous driving.

- Cargo: the balls are known as cargo since there is a theme to the

competition and stage, which is aeronautics; this theme changes

every year.

- Traversal: the highest bar that can be reached when a robot hangs on

the bar. The robot has to be designed to climb up to the bar per the

competition’s rules for the design of the robot and regulations in

order to earn the points at the end of the match.

- Hub: the areas in which the robot’s cargo can go into. There is a

lower hub and an upper hub. The lower hub will give 1 point and the

upper hub will give the team 2 points, this only changes during

autonomous.

- Alliance: an alliance is formed between three teams for each match.

When the competition has come to the finals or during the

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championship the top teams will be able to choose who they want to

be a part of their alliance, whereas the other rounds have the alliances

be randomized. The top teams will each be asked to choose a team

who hasn’t been selected already, asking one at a time. It goes from

the top #1 to top #3 and then the third alliance captain will get to

choose their third alliance first and it will go like that until the top #1

team invites their third alliance.

- Pressure, Happiness, Concentration, Celebration, Stress, Relief

Vibe

Figure 1

Spectator View

Figure(s)

Note. This is what the stage looked like. The image was taken mid-match so

cargo can be seen being shot into the upper hub along with different cargo

being distributed. There are different color cargo for each alliance team.
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Figure 2

Hanging/Climbing Robots

Note. This image depicts what it looks like for the robots to hang from

different level bars, which could score a range from 6 to 15 points for each

robot that can successfully hang for at least 5 seconds.

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References

Vision and Mission. (2022, May 23). FIRST. www.firstinspires.org/about/vision-and-mission