Project 691 Robotics kicked off preparations for a Star Wars-themed, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition FRC on Saturday, Jan. 4, a joint philanthropic initiative between Lucasfilm and FIRST.

The worldwide challenge was revealed at 7 a.m. PST on Saturday, and the Project 691 team discovered that they needed to build a robot capable of placing or throwing objects through elevated hoops and balancing on a platform. Additionally, the robot would have to be able to identify colors.

In past years, the challenge has involved creating robots that are able to move and stack crates, hanging gears, or passing an exercise ball from robot to robot, according to coach Aaron Dolgin.

Teams all around the world will be either attending their local kick-off or watching the live stream on Twitch. Project 691 is set to celebrate the grand reveal of the 2020 challenge, and to begin planning designs for a robot to rise to the occasion.

“During kick-off, I will be having the high school students work together to strategize and dissect the challenge. This is a great example of engineering creativity and teamwork. They will be basically solving a puzzle,” said Dolgin. “We want the students to fall in love with the challenge, the problems (students)  are trying to solve, not (FIRST’s) idea.

Coaches Dolgin and Peter Onesti and the rest of the team are set to have just over 6 weeks starting Saturday to design, build, and test the robot for competition.

Project 691 is a community high school robotics team that accepts students from all over the Santa Clarita Valley.  Founded in 2001 by a close group of friends, the team of around 45 members works together to build up students’ team-working and design skills,  and to come together to solve a challenge in a fun way, according to Dolgin.

“It’s fun that they can apply all of these skills they are learning in high school to their daily lives, and even into when they have their careers,” Dolgin said.

Related: Santa Clarita Student Robotics Teams Compete At FIRST Lego League Qualifier Tournament

An alumnus of the program himself Dolgin has gone on to a career at Northrop-Grumman, and now works to encourage future generations. Dolgin fondly shared his own memories during his time on the Project 691 Robotics team.

“My favorite competition would be from 2012 Rebound Rumble… essentially the bots had to play basketball,” said Dolgin. “We had a robot called Mostly Harmless, and we actually strapped a Kinect to a robot along with a computer, so it was able to target the backboard, and then figure out the distance and figure out how to make the shot. Me personally, I got to learn how to build a computer, it’s really cool.”

Project 691 is currently sponsored by Walt Disney Imagineering and Northrup-Grumman, the latter thanks to Dolgin. International sponsors for FIRST include Department of Defense STEM Sponsors, NASA, Apple, and Boston Scientific. High school students involved with FIRST and Project 691 have gone on to attend prestigious universities such as CalTech, UCLA, and Ivy League schools.

Project 691 Robotics is set to meet four times a week to work on their project until the end of March.

Dolgin shared that one of the main benefits for students is not only the development of a formidable resume but also the development of relationships that can take them out of high school and into their adult careers.

“As I like to say it’s not just about the robots, it’s more than that. Yes, robotics is a way of getting them into these schools but it’s so much more,” said Dolgin. “Robotics is bringing together these students. We like to say that every student can go pro with a FIRST robotics team.”

Students are encouraged to take charge of the creation of their robots, teaching them to control every step of the process.

“We like to say to parents, the students built these robots, they design it, they get their hands dirty, so the robots aren’t pretty — a lot of them look like satellites but that’s how we know that the students did it,” said Dolgin. “They made them all themselves.”

Dolgin looks forward to the success of the Project 691 team but hopes that the students will take home not only a trophy but long-term lessons and connections.

“I would say, just having fun, making those friendships last,” Dolgin. “When I started college, being on a FIRST team allowed me to connect with the other students in my dorm, it allowed me to make friendships with other people that have lasted until today. I’m making friendships at work today because of FIRST.”

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