SAVE FRC ROBOTICS TEAM, CLUB, AND HOMEROOM
SAVE FRC ROBOTICS TEAM, CLUB, AND HOMEROOM
The Issue
Stanford OHS FRC Team Stands in Jeopardy in Light of 24-25' Disbandment Waves
WHO WE ARE
We are the Pixelators, Stanford Online High School (OHS)’s dedicated FRC team with a 12-year legacy in the world’s largest national robotics competition. Our returning club, team, and homeroom (HRMCL) is one of the most active clubs in the institution, embracing diverse talents and interests to focus on applied STEM through engineering. From CAD (3D-design), programming, fabrication (metalworking, woodworking, assembly, etc.), and electronics to marketing, fundraising, and media, we offer something for everyone, encouraging students to learn and apply knowledge beyond the textbook in our all-inclusive environment.
INTERNATIONAL TEAM
Our team includes students from across the globe, with members from California, Texas, Massachusetts, Florida, and New York, as well as internationally in Thailand, Italy, the UK, Serbia, and Canada. Our mentors have expertise in naval and aerospace engineering, robotics control systems, and even nuclear physics! We’ve collaborated with various OHS clubs (Girls Can Code, Neuroscience, Advanced Programming, FTC Robotics, Women in Stem, et al.). You may have also seen icons like Mark Rober and the late Grant Imahara in our division.
MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR SPONSORS
Our past sponsors have included NASA, Northrop-Grumman, Qualcomm, Viasat, Megapro, Boeing, Haas (Formula 1), BAE Systems, and more. In the school, we’ve been featured in several official OHS publications, showcases, and events. Our division is also affiliated with top universities like Stanford University, MIT, Yale, UC Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon.
THE CHALLENGE
Stanford Online High School is a prestigious institution that prides itself on STEM excellence yet has historically underfunded its one and only FRC team. The school’s competitors, Harvard-Westlake School, Phillips Academy Andover, Phillips Exeter, and Choate Rosemary Hall, devote budgets upwards of $40,000 USD to well into the six-figure range, with competitive teams easily surpassing $300,000 in resources. As an experienced team of determined problem-solvers no stranger to obstacles, we’ve historically competed with a minute fraction (<1%) of the funding yet managed to stay afloat in the elite competitive pool over the last three years.
Competition robotics is the paramount aspect of high-level applied STEM. The Pixelators have been able to continue fighting against world-class teams of 200+ with multi-million-dollar budgets in order to stay in the competitions and arms race of FRC despite hardship, climbing to the second-seeded alliance (among 48 teams) last season, Alliance #8 Captain the season before, and accumulating three Judges’ Awards under the OHS name.
JEOPARDY
Despite our success, Student Life plans to sponsor only the FTC Robotics Club for the 2024-25 school year, neglecting the significant differences between FRC and FTC (with whom we are independent organizations) in the diverse world of robotics. FRC robots are 125-lb aerospace-grade competition machines that go upwards of 29 feet per second—that’s as fast as Lionel Messi or Tyreek Hill’s top speed, for reference, except accelerating with a power-to-weight ratio triple that of a Camaro ZL1. Whereas FTC deals with smaller-scale machinery (6 fps, ~40lbs, grades 7-12), FRC (high school only) “is a much more intense program, with a much bigger robot, longer competitions, and more meetings” (The Daily Campus), involving $20,000 USD to even $6M-dollar budgets for some.
Should this policy follow through, it would warrant the immediate death of the Pixelators and 12 years of legacy, tens of thousands of hours of dedication, disregarding the numerous achievements, sacrifices, and contributions involved. On behalf of all the Pixelators, we would immensely appreciate your support in this petition to advocate for the survival of OHS FRC—all it takes is four seconds of your time and CAPTCHA. Thank you.
NOTE: No monetary investment is required of any participants who sign the petition. Either share the petition or opt-out by clicking the button titled "Sorry, I can't do anything right now" at the bottom of the screen.
If you have any questions, please contact us!
Justin Guoji (jguoji@ohs.stanford.edu) [Co-Captain, Fabrication Lead, Outreach Lead], Neel Gadde (neelgad@ohs.stanford.edu) [Co-Captain], Han Lu (han0427@ohs.stanford.edu) [Design Lead], Ashwin Naren (anaren@ohs.stanford.edu) [Software Lead].
Official Discord Server: https://discord.gg/AuCccnTG
A huge thank you to our FRC family for making this possible:
Alistair Keiller | Justin Guoji | Neel Gadde | Han Lu | Veronica Howard | Tesla Pratt | Jude Loza | Rushaan Mahajan | Mark Post | Team Thongthai | Ashwin Naren | Neha Gadde | Alinda Lau | Henry Hutchinson | Harmehel Singh | Cooper Dong | Adam Chestovaliev | Sophia Mitchell
🇺🇸-CA | 🇺🇸-NY | 🇺🇸-TX | 🇺🇸-FL | 🇺🇸-MI | 🇺🇸-NY | 🇹🇭 | 🇬🇧 | 🇮🇹 | 🇨🇦 | 🇷🇸 | 🇨🇭
269
The Issue
Stanford OHS FRC Team Stands in Jeopardy in Light of 24-25' Disbandment Waves
WHO WE ARE
We are the Pixelators, Stanford Online High School (OHS)’s dedicated FRC team with a 12-year legacy in the world’s largest national robotics competition. Our returning club, team, and homeroom (HRMCL) is one of the most active clubs in the institution, embracing diverse talents and interests to focus on applied STEM through engineering. From CAD (3D-design), programming, fabrication (metalworking, woodworking, assembly, etc.), and electronics to marketing, fundraising, and media, we offer something for everyone, encouraging students to learn and apply knowledge beyond the textbook in our all-inclusive environment.
INTERNATIONAL TEAM
Our team includes students from across the globe, with members from California, Texas, Massachusetts, Florida, and New York, as well as internationally in Thailand, Italy, the UK, Serbia, and Canada. Our mentors have expertise in naval and aerospace engineering, robotics control systems, and even nuclear physics! We’ve collaborated with various OHS clubs (Girls Can Code, Neuroscience, Advanced Programming, FTC Robotics, Women in Stem, et al.). You may have also seen icons like Mark Rober and the late Grant Imahara in our division.
MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR SPONSORS
Our past sponsors have included NASA, Northrop-Grumman, Qualcomm, Viasat, Megapro, Boeing, Haas (Formula 1), BAE Systems, and more. In the school, we’ve been featured in several official OHS publications, showcases, and events. Our division is also affiliated with top universities like Stanford University, MIT, Yale, UC Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon.
THE CHALLENGE
Stanford Online High School is a prestigious institution that prides itself on STEM excellence yet has historically underfunded its one and only FRC team. The school’s competitors, Harvard-Westlake School, Phillips Academy Andover, Phillips Exeter, and Choate Rosemary Hall, devote budgets upwards of $40,000 USD to well into the six-figure range, with competitive teams easily surpassing $300,000 in resources. As an experienced team of determined problem-solvers no stranger to obstacles, we’ve historically competed with a minute fraction (<1%) of the funding yet managed to stay afloat in the elite competitive pool over the last three years.
Competition robotics is the paramount aspect of high-level applied STEM. The Pixelators have been able to continue fighting against world-class teams of 200+ with multi-million-dollar budgets in order to stay in the competitions and arms race of FRC despite hardship, climbing to the second-seeded alliance (among 48 teams) last season, Alliance #8 Captain the season before, and accumulating three Judges’ Awards under the OHS name.
JEOPARDY
Despite our success, Student Life plans to sponsor only the FTC Robotics Club for the 2024-25 school year, neglecting the significant differences between FRC and FTC (with whom we are independent organizations) in the diverse world of robotics. FRC robots are 125-lb aerospace-grade competition machines that go upwards of 29 feet per second—that’s as fast as Lionel Messi or Tyreek Hill’s top speed, for reference, except accelerating with a power-to-weight ratio triple that of a Camaro ZL1. Whereas FTC deals with smaller-scale machinery (6 fps, ~40lbs, grades 7-12), FRC (high school only) “is a much more intense program, with a much bigger robot, longer competitions, and more meetings” (The Daily Campus), involving $20,000 USD to even $6M-dollar budgets for some.
Should this policy follow through, it would warrant the immediate death of the Pixelators and 12 years of legacy, tens of thousands of hours of dedication, disregarding the numerous achievements, sacrifices, and contributions involved. On behalf of all the Pixelators, we would immensely appreciate your support in this petition to advocate for the survival of OHS FRC—all it takes is four seconds of your time and CAPTCHA. Thank you.
NOTE: No monetary investment is required of any participants who sign the petition. Either share the petition or opt-out by clicking the button titled "Sorry, I can't do anything right now" at the bottom of the screen.
If you have any questions, please contact us!
Justin Guoji (jguoji@ohs.stanford.edu) [Co-Captain, Fabrication Lead, Outreach Lead], Neel Gadde (neelgad@ohs.stanford.edu) [Co-Captain], Han Lu (han0427@ohs.stanford.edu) [Design Lead], Ashwin Naren (anaren@ohs.stanford.edu) [Software Lead].
Official Discord Server: https://discord.gg/AuCccnTG
A huge thank you to our FRC family for making this possible:
Alistair Keiller | Justin Guoji | Neel Gadde | Han Lu | Veronica Howard | Tesla Pratt | Jude Loza | Rushaan Mahajan | Mark Post | Team Thongthai | Ashwin Naren | Neha Gadde | Alinda Lau | Henry Hutchinson | Harmehel Singh | Cooper Dong | Adam Chestovaliev | Sophia Mitchell
🇺🇸-CA | 🇺🇸-NY | 🇺🇸-TX | 🇺🇸-FL | 🇺🇸-MI | 🇺🇸-NY | 🇹🇭 | 🇬🇧 | 🇮🇹 | 🇨🇦 | 🇷🇸 | 🇨🇭
269
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Petition created on May 21, 2024