Vignesh Kalidas (President)

Hello, I’m Vignesh Kalidas. I’ve been with the club for two years, and I’m the club President. I joined the team because I was interested in technology, and I thought the robotics club would be fun. I’ve overseen the club’s proceedings, solicited funds, and done other administrative duties. I hope our team places well this year, and I’d like to see the club prosper for many more years to come. Actually, I hope to return each year to help the club and watch it grow, even after I graduate. I’ll be returning next year as a senior, and I look forward to another year of being a part of the team. AVBotz for the win!

Kevin Chen (VP of Software)

Hi. I’m Kevin. This is my second year in the club. I’m the VP of Software, as well as the webmaster. I joined the team because, at the time, the club’s president had an amazing afro. Also, I like computers and stuff, but that was just icing on the cake. This year, I’ve been figuring out how the version control, AVI, BeagleBoard, control board, and all the other parts of the sub work together. This work was mainly done by guess-and-check or Google because there was only a page of documentation left from last year. Also, I helped make this website. Next year, I hope we can rapidly add functionality, as we’ll be armed with information. I will definitely return to make sure that happens.

Ashutosh Shiledar (VP of Electronics)

Hi, My name is Ashutosh and I am the VP of Electronics. I am a Junior this year so I next year will be my last. This year has been an experimental one for the electronics subdivision due to a lack of returning members in the subdivision but we have made a lot of progress. We are also taking a precautionary measure this year and doubling up on the existing electronics due to last year's minor setback. Hopefully in the coming years, we will have a submarine that will complete most, if not all of the course.

Andrew Yu (VP of Mechanics)

Hello. My name is Andrew Yu, and I have been in this club for two years. I am the Vice President of Mechanics. I joined the team because I wanted to learn more about the robot and participate in contests using it. I have worked on the internal structure of the sub, and the wagon that allows the sub to travel. I hope that we would be able to take 1st place at one of the competitions. I will be a junior next year.

Tarunraj Amuthan

Hello, my name is Tarunraj Amuthan, a sophomore, and this is my first year in robotics. I'm in software, except for when I'm not. My only reason for joining the Robotics club was to put it on my college applications. Just kidding! I love robots and computers and electricity and Pokémon, and this seemed like a good way to combine them! This year in the club, I want to learn C++ and contribute to the team! I'm looking forward to Junior year so I can participate more and build me a submarine!

Bryce Arden

My name is Bryce Arden and this is my my first year on the Amador Valley High School Robotics team. I am going to be a senior next year, and although my experiences with the team have been short, I have learned an incredible amount of information. I joined the amador robotics team because I am interested in learning how computers work and robotics sounded like an interesting way to experience what programming is like. Although I currently belong in the software division of the club, I have worked in hardware and electrical as well. Over the past few weeks, I have been working on building a metal frame for the robot, and trying to get hydrophones to function correctly with the control board. Overall, my experiences with the Club have been phenomenal, and I cannot wait to help out again next yea

Jeff Chen

Hi, I’m Jeff. I don’t have hair. Sort of like Miss Delaware. I think they mentioned my disease (alopecia areata) on Glee once. Anyway, I need to write 8 sentences about myself. Here we go:

Jeff is sixteen years old. He is a junior at Amador Valley High School and has participated in the robotics club for one year. He works on software. He joined the team because he felt that he wasn’t being nerdy enough. During his year with robotics, he has written some code that does some stuff. Eventually, this stuff might even coalesce into working features! He hopes that in the future, the submarine will become sentient. Jeff needs one more sentence to satisfy the mandatory eight-sentence quota.

Siddhartha Desai

Hi, my name is Siddhartha Desai. I am currently a freshman and 14 years old. So far, I have been in the club for a year. I am part of the software subdivision, but regularly switch to the electrical subdivision to learn more about the sub. I joined the team so I could have an experience with making robots and to get a start in programming. Most of the time, I’ve been learning C++, and recently, I’ve partaken in making a backup control board with the electrical subdivision. In the future, I have hopes for becoming president of the club. In the upcoming school year, I will be returning to the club as a sophomore.

Brandon Lopez

Hello, my name is Brandon Lopez. I’ve been with the robotics club since I started high school three years ago. I work with the mechanics division, and always have. I joined the team because I was in the robotics club at Harvest Park Middle School, where I made the basic programs with Lego Mindstorms. When I joined the Amador team, I went to the mechanics division, where we’ve been attempting to create an autonomous grabber without creating more work for the electronics or software divisions. I hope that, one day, our team manages to win the RoboSub competition, or for our sub to finish the entire course. I plan to return to the club next year as a senior at Amador.

Ian Peters

I am a sophomore at Amador Valley and I have been with the club for one active year and one not active year. I have been apart of software division, but lately I have been working with mechanics to improve transportation. I joined the Amador team because I have always been interested in the workings of robots and have been in a robotics team since middle school. I have created an easier way of transporting the submarine, and have forced others to stay on task. I hope that, over the summer, I can improve my programming ability so that I can help out the team more than I did the previous year. I will be a junior next year and I hope that I can make a big difference in this team.

Akshay Salpekar

Hello, my name is Akshay. This is my first year in the robotics club. I work in the software subdivision but I have also done some work for the mechanics subdivision. I joined the team because I am fascinated by robots and want to make them useful for humans in the future. During this year, I have worked on a harness for the sub and have learned C++ so that I will be able to work on the software. My hopes for the team is that we win the competition. When I return next year, I will be a junior.

Karan Samel

I’m Karan Samel and I’ve had an interest in robotics this year and also during most of middle school. This is my first year with the club, as I was a freshman. I am in the software division. I chose this division because coding is something that I want to work on. I joined the club because robotics is something that I explored and got interested in during middle school. So far, I haven’t added a major contribution to the team, but I have started to learn C++. In the future, I hope that I will offer more contributions to the team and the team will thrive in spite of a lack of college-like funding. Next year, I will be returning as a sophomore and I want to continue doing robotics for the rest high school.

Edward Shin

Hi, I'm Edward Shin. I joined robotics and stayed for two straight years. I currently work in the mechanics division. My reason for joining for robotics is to heighten my understanding of robotics, engineering, and programming in hopes that I can put them to good use in my future career. So far, I've been assisting in building a good framework for our robot and making a more stable means of transporting our robot. I hope that with my team I can overcome many obstacles, learn more, interact fluently, and perhaps get a high ranking in the competition. Next year, when I return, I will come back as a junior. Well, let's go team.

Adit Sinha

Hi, my name is Adit and I'm a sophomore in the AVBotz team. This is my first year in the club. I am part of the software division. I joined the team because I am interested in robotics and autonomous vehicles. I think robotics is really interesting and cool. Currently we are working on the the code for the sub. I'll be coming back next year and hopefully the year after that also.

Edward Wang

’ello there! People call me Edward Wang, and I’ve been in the club for 2 years. As a part of the software division, I have helped my fellow members with C++ and Git. Although last year I helped with the vision code on the Barracuda, this year I (as well as most of the software team) am working on code for the control board. I joined the team primarily because I wanted to learn more about software and how it interacted with mechanics to create a functional robot—the task seems impossible, and yet somehow we have done it as a high school team! Next year as a junior, I wish to continue work in the software division to ensure that we can continue our team’s legacy as a top-notch competitor.

Ray Wei

My name is Ray Wei, a Freshman attending Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, CA. When I first thought of the Robotics Club at AVHS, I thought it was a group of unsocial, coding nerds; I was wrong. The Robotics Club at AVHS was a group of die hard, entertaining, tech geeks that made me fit into school. This club made me comfortable with my insecurities and seemed like I belonged somewhere. I quickly new what sub-division I wanted to be in: mechanics. It was the most "hands-on" sub-division out of the 3. I hoped to get more friends and be in an environment where I can enjoy my time around many geeks trying to program a submarine.I will never forget the many successes and failures of ideas into the sub. Although my time with the AV Botz has been only an year, I definitely know I will return next year and the year after for the club.

Glynn Williams

Hey, I'm Glynn. I've only been with the club for 1 year, but I'm definitely looking forward to more. I joined the club because I've always been interested in electronics and robotics, and lucky for me, I got placed in the Electric sub-division. I've been working on assembling the control board and making a spare power board with the rest of the people in my group. I hope to learn a lot more about circuit boards and other electrical-related things, and someday watch the team take 1st place in the robotics competition. I'll be returning to the club next year as a Sophomore, and working just as hard (if not harder) then.

Angus Wu

Hi, my name is Angus Wu. I've been in this club for a season or so, and I work with the Electrical group. At the time I joined, Electrical really didn't have much to do, but I did read the C+++ tutorial and located a severed wire. I hope to be able to stay with the team till senior year and be beneficial to the club. Next year, I will be a sophomore

Cary Yang

Hello, my name is Cary Yang and I will be a senior in the upcoming school year. This is my first year working with the team. I joined this team to learn how to apply my programming abilities in real-world scenarios, and, as part of the software division, I help maintain the submarine's code and migrate code to newer hardware. As the competition date grows closer, I hope that we will be able to finalize our code and improve on our previous design. I will definitely return to this club next year as I finish my high school career.