$20,000 Short: San Ramon Robotics Team Seeks Money To Compete

DANVILLE, CA — The 70-person San Ramon Valley High School Robotics team will have less than two months to plan, program and build a four-foot, 120-pound robot, when it comes time to compete. It's a lot of work — especially given some clubs have more than twice as many students — but robotics teaches leadership, programming skills and technical skills valuable to students looking to go into engineering, said team captain and high school senior Kanishk Gupta.

But right now, Gupta's challenge is narrowing the $20,000 gap between the club's current competition budget and the $40,000 it needs to cover materials and travel expenses. The club lost its head mentor last year, Gupta said, and with the team's mentor went about $12,000 of grant scholarships that the team has relied on during competition season. He hopes that a couple of grants will come through and cover the total cost of supplies, but even that won't be enough to cover student travel.

"A lot of students can't necessarily afford to pay the travel expenses," Gupta said. "We don't want to limit people based on their financial circumstances."

The so-called Ragin' C-Biscuits, established in 2002, have been raising money since August for two competitions: the Central Valley Regional in Fresno, from March 12 to 14 and the Silicon Valley Regional in San Jose, from April 2 to 4.

The events are part of the FIRST Robotics Competition STEM program, which requires a hefty $9,000 registration fee. Some $8,000 goes toward tools and materials, $10,000 goes toward transporting the robot and $9,000 is spent on student travel, according to the San Ramon Valley website.

The C-Biscuits will find out their challenge on Jan. 4, Gupta said, and the team hopes to meet its goal by then.

The team has been busy filling out grants, submitting proposals and trying to solicit willing donors online, he said. Members will bring a robot and set up a booth at the Danville Farmers' Markets on Dec. 7, 21 and 28 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"We're still short on money even though we're putting in a ton of hours," Gupta said.

To learn more about the team, visit its website. Donate here or send a check to 501 Danville Blvd, Danville, CA, 94526.