But that's a narrow and romanticized view of such creations. In reality, and in practical terms, robots are things programmed to perform specific tasks — such as manufacturing items, delivering goods and controlling traffic. They're everywhere in the modern world and they play a critical role in our progress.
That's the main theme for Jon Andrew, founder and director of Butte Built Bots, an organization that seeks to "demystify" robots and demonstrate to high school students in Butte County that the machines are actually pretty cool.
"For us, the robot is a means to educate students in a bunch of different topic areas," Andrew said. "It's not just computer design and programming — but all the things that go into it.
"It's not just a programming challenge, but a tech incubator. We encourage students to take on new challenges."
Butte Built Bots started in 2013 as "Thunderbird Robotics" at Las Plumas High School, using that school's mascot as part of the name — with several Las Plumas students joining one from Oroville High School. It left Las Plumas in 2017 and changed to its current name, reflecting its representation of students throughout the county.
The group has constructed one robot per year, except in 2021, due to COVID pandemic restrictions, Andrew said.
Even if students don't have any inclination to "build" robots, Andrew said all are welcome anyway.
"We encourage students to come in, even if they have no desire" to be a part of the robotics team, he said. "There are so many things they can do and it all gravitates toward actually building a robot."
Andrew, who's now a technology teacher at Chico High School, said robots are all around us, working to improve everyday tasks while reducing the need for humans to do repetitive, mundane things.
"They're not just in giant manufacturing plants; they're in everything," he said — "in manufacturing equipment, in drones, in your cars. They're not just things that happen in far-off cities, but are happening locally as well."
A good example of local manufacturing robots are ones at Transfer Flow, a Chico-based builder of auxiliary fuel tanks for vehicles. Robots perform welding tasks, moving around the newly created items with precision and agility, and thus greatly lowering the risk of injury to people who'd otherwise need to handle a flame.
Transfer Flow, incidentally, has been a Butte Built Bots sponsor since the group began. Other sponsors include Drivergent, a local company that modifies vans for accessible use, and the Oroville Industrial Park, where the robotic group's lab is located.
Butte Built Bots — which has the name "Team 4643" — is the northernmost such organization in California, Andrew said. The closest one is in Roseville.
The group's work in building robots serves as preparation for competitions, showing off its achievements and seeing how well they measure up against similar clubs.
"Summer and fall — the 'off-season' — consists of advisers conducting workshops teaching the kids how to use the software," Andrew said. "'Build season' starts the first Saturday in January. It's six or seven weeks long and when all the grunt work on the robot takes place."
The group participates in six weekends of regional events, with similar competitions taking place all around the world. One event, for example — the East Bay Regional — is scheduled for the first weekend in April at Berkeley High School. Butte Built Bots will join several other organizations there, including two teams from Turkey, one from China and one from Taiwan.
Andrew described the competition process, in which the robots are set to follow what organizers call a "game" each year.
"The game challenge is new every year. Sometimes, it's straightforward, like shooting a Wiffle ball into a hopper or hole," he said.
"In 2022, the game was sponsored by (airplane manufacturer) Boeing and the theme was handling luggage at airport." So, entrants needed to create a robot that could accomplish related tasks.
"In other years, it has been weird. In 2017, there was a big 12-inch rubber sprocket from a human player's station to the airship, a dirigible," Andrew recalled. "We had to figure how to get it into a hopper or holding mechanism and deploy it effectively.
"We created a mechanism that just dropped it on a spring, free and clear of a robot; then the robot left. Other teams decided to get something to remove it from the robot for the next placement."
Butte Built Bots will participate in the Chico Bot Harvest at the Boys and Girls Club in Chico Saturday. Andrew said the event is for middle school students and involves "classic"-type robots; there is no charge to attend.
Other events include the "Vets for Bots" competition on Nov. 11; the "Snowbots Showdown" at Chico Junior High School on Nov. 16; and the IRON Cal (Inspiration Robotics of Northern California) Classic at Chico High School on Dec. 2.
Andrew said that while student members are responsible for raising funds to support the organization, Butte Built Bots is always grateful for support from the community. He said potential donors can visit the group's website at www.buttebuiltbots.org, or consider volunteering.
"We're looking for as many people to help as possible — people in the community, business owners, or just people who think robots are neat," Andrew said.
©2023 Chico Enterprise-Record, Calif. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
