Jason Merlo

Graduated in 2014

Grade:  12

Years on Team:  4

Sub-Teams:  Controls and Electronics, Project Management

What are 2 fun facts about you?

I play goalie for Stoney Creek’s hockey team.
I am currently building a quadrotor (multi-rotor helicopter) completely from scratch.

Why did you join the AdamBots?

It’s always been a dream of mine to be on a robotics team.  I’ve always been interested in how things work from an early age.  When I was in second grade I built a DC electric motor with my dad for the science fair.  In the summer before eighth grade I got an Arduino and started experimenting with circuits and micro controllers and programming them.  I’ve made a few neat things since then and am working on a few right now, that’s how I got the inspiration to build a quadrotor.  From these events I felt the robotics team would be a great place for me and it turns out it has been.

What is your favorite memory from robotics?

My favorite memory from robotics is probably the Michigan state finals in 2011.  The energy at the state finals is incredible and it was a fun time overall.  It was also very rewarding to see our robot work so well and move on to the World Finals in St. Louis.

What have you learned from being on the team?

I’ve learned a lot from being on the team.  One major thing is how to cooperate and function as a team, with others.  This is one of the most valuable experiences, in my opinion, that you can learn from working with other on a team.  There’s a whole lot that has to come together to make a robot function as one efficient machine

What is special about FIRST?

FIRST is a really unique opportunity to get while in school. In school we don’t get many hands on experiences to apply what we’re learning in class.  Through robotics we can apply everything we learn from elementary physics to calculate trajectory of a projectile, to in depth calculus to control the speed of a wheel for a shooter.