Lakeside High / Madison, WI / Team 4471

We build robots. Then we rebuild them.

Gearheads is the robotics club for students in grades 6 to 12 at Lakeside High and Lakeside Middle. We design, build, code and drive a competition robot every season, and we break plenty of things on the way.

Join the club Meet Pip

Members: 32
Grades: 6-12
Since: 2019
Experience: 0 needed

A small test robot with wheels, wires and a distance sensor on the workbench — Pip's first test chassis, before the treads and the lift went on.

Hands wiring a small electronics board with tools and a laptop nearby — Fig. 02 / Wiring the sensor board, Tuesday night

01 / About the club

A club for people who like to take things apart.

We started in 2019 with six students, one drill and a robot made mostly of zip ties. Now we are 32 members strong, with a real shop, two 3D printers and a trophy shelf that is slowly filling up.

Older students teach younger ones, everyone tries every job at least once, and nobody gets in trouble for a robot that falls over. That is how you learn.

Build
Cut, drill, rivet and wire a robot from raw aluminium.
Code
Program driving, sensors and the autonomous mode in Java.
Design
Model parts in CAD, then print and test them the same day.
Compete
Take Pip to regional events across Wisconsin each winter.

02 / Spec sheet / 2025-26 season

Meet Pip.

Our competition robot this season, named after the squeak its very first gearbox made. Nine weeks of building, three rebuilt drive trains, one very proud team.

WEIGHT: 14.2 kg
FOOTPRINT: 45 x 45 cm
DRIVE: 2 treads, 4 motors
TOP SPEED: 1.8 m/s
LIFT HEIGHT: 1.2 m in 1.4 s
BATTERY: 12 V, 18 Ah
SENSORS: 2 cameras, gyro, lidar
CODE: 6,812 lines of Java
BUILD TIME: 9 weeks

1
Tank tread drive
Climbs the 8 cm field ramp without slipping. Rebuilt three times until it stopped throwing a tread.
2
Two-stage lift
Belt-driven slides push the claw from the floor to 1.2 m in under a second and a half.
3
Soft-grip claw
Flexible 3D printed fingers grab cubes and balls without crushing them. Version 4 is the keeper.
4
Auto-align camera
Spots field targets and lines Pip up in under a second, so drivers can focus on strategy.

03 / The team

Who runs the shop

Five student leads, elected every September. Coached by Mr. Lindqvist (physics) and Ms. Barros (tech ed).

Captain / Grade 12
Maya T.

Drives Pip at every event and keeps the build schedule honest. Has never missed a Saturday.
Build lead / Grade 11
Owen K.

Has rebuilt the lift so many times he could do it with his eyes closed. Please do not let him.
Programming lead / Grade 10
Priya S.

Wrote the auto-align code. Will happily explain it to anyone, for as long as they will listen.
CAD lead / Grade 9
Leo M.

Designs every printed part before it goes near the printers. Measures twice, prints once.
Outreach lead / Grade 8
Sofia R.

Runs our summer camp, the club newsletter and every sponsor thank-you card we send.
Open seat / Any gradeYou Every lead started at a first meeting

04 / Season log

2025-26, one event at a time

From a whiteboard full of sketches in September to our best finish ever in March.

Events: 4
Awards: 3
Best finish: 1st place alliance, Dane County

Sep 6, 2025 / Kickoff

The game is revealed

Forty sketches on the whiteboard by 9pm. We picked tank treads and a lift, and argued about it for a week.
Oct 18, 2025 / Milestone

Pip drives for the first time

It drove. Mostly in circles. The squeak that gave Pip its name started that night.
Nov 15, 2025 / Appleton

Fox Valley Robotics Scrimmage

Our claw was too slow to keep up. We redesigned it in two weeks.

9th of 22 teams
Jan 17, 2026 / Milwaukee

Lakeshore Regional Qualifier

The new claw and auto-align camera made their debut. Qualified for the championship.

3rd of 31 teamsInnovation Award
Feb 21, 2026 / Madison

Dane County Robot Rumble

Our first ever event win, on home turf, with half the school in the stands.

1st place allianceDriver Award
Mar 27, 2026 / Minneapolis

Upper Midwest Regional Championship

Made the quarterfinals against 48 teams from four states. The judges loved our engineering notebook.

QuarterfinalistJudges' Award
Apr 2026 / Shop B114

Rebuild season

Pip comes apart, lessons go in the notebook, and the next robot starts on paper.

05 / Meetings

When and where we meet

Weekly scheduleSep to Apr

Club meeting times
TUE	3:45pm to 6:00pm Build night. All sub-teams, new members welcome.
THU	3:45pm to 6:00pm Code and CAD night, plus drive practice.
SAT	10am to 2pm Build season only, January to March. Pizza provided.

Snow day or school closed? No meeting. We post any changes in the club newsletter by 2pm.

Shop B114, Tech Ed wing

Lakeside High School
2140 Lakeview Drive
Madison, WI 53704

Use door 7 by the bus loop after 3:30pm.

Bring

Closed-toe shoes (shop rule)
Hair ties if you have long hair
Curiosity. Safety glasses are on us.

06 / How to join

No experience needed.

Most of us started out not knowing what a hex key was. Membership is free: our supporters cover parts, shirts and event fees.

Step 01
Fill in the form
Sign up below. We email your parent or guardian a permission slip.
Step 02
Come to a Tuesday
Drop in, get the shop tour and try a bit of every sub-team.
Step 03
Earn your shop badge
A short safety course with Ms. Barros, then you are cleared to build.

07 / Supporters

Powered by our neighbours

Every bolt, battery and bus ride this season was paid for by these local friends. Thank you.

Gold / Machining
Isthmus Machine Works
Gold / Electronics
Yahara Circuit Lab
Silver / Parts
Northport Hardware
Silver / Space
Willow Street Makerspace
Friend / Travel
Lakeside PTO
Friend / Saturdays
Second Shift Pizza

Want your name on Pip's side panel? Write to sponsors@gearheads4471.example

08 / Gallery

From the shop floor

Hand tools hanging in neat rows on a workshop wall — The tool wall, B114

A pile of metal gears and mechanical parts — Spare gears

A row of 3D printers printing blue plastic parts on a workbench — Printing claw v4

A soldering iron working on a small circuit board — Soldering 101

A small wheeled practice robot with exposed wires — Pocket, our practice bot for new coders

A circuit board held in clamps on a dark workbench — Sensor board, clamped and ready

09 / Sign up

Join the club

Tell us a little about you. A student lead will reply within a week, and we will see you on a Tuesday.

>Open to grades 6 to 12
>Free, with no equipment to buy
>Join any time of year

First name

Grade

Which team are you curious about?

Parent or guardian email

We only use this to send the permission slip and meeting updates.

Anything else?

We build robots. Then we rebuild them.

A club for people who like to take things apart.

Build

Code

Design

Compete

Meet Pip.

Tank tread drive

Two-stage lift

Soft-grip claw

Auto-align camera

Who runs the shop

Maya T.

Owen K.

Priya S.

Leo M.

Sofia R.

2025-26, one event at a time

The game is revealed

Pip drives for the first time

Fox Valley Robotics Scrimmage

Lakeshore Regional Qualifier

Dane County Robot Rumble

Upper Midwest Regional Championship

Rebuild season

When and where we meet

No experience needed.

Fill in the form

Come to a Tuesday

Earn your shop badge

Powered by our neighbours

From the shop floor

Join the club

Gearheads Robotics · School robotics club