LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — The Engineering Society, led by Los Alamitos High School senior Rylee Robles, began a new project this year. The club plans on building an animatronic griffin with moving wings, tail and facial features to display at school board meetings and assemblies.
“I think it was my interest in (imagining) and all things Disney. It meshed my two interests, which was the storytelling aspect with the mechanical and moving parts of engineering,” Robles said.
The inspiration for this project first struck around four years ago but in the past year, the club has focused on applying for grants and ordering parts for the griffin. Robles hopes to finish constructing the griffin this year.
“This year is when we get to do a lot of the building, so it’s going to be a fun year,” Robles said.
The griffin will be mainly controlled by pneumatics, with servos for facial movements and arduinoes to control everything remotely. The club will have demonstrations and certifications to work with pneumatics and electrical components. Once a club member has their certification, they can teach others in the club how to use the materials and contribute to the griffin.
The griffin’s frame will be covered in fabric and the same colors as the griffin in the LAHS logo. The club plans to have the griffin sitting on a base with drawings from all of the middle and elementary schools in the district.
“My goal is to have it be this unity piece for all of the district, so every person who wants to work on it will see a little of themselves in that,” Robles said.
The club meets on Mondays during lunch to plan and on Wednesdays after school for demonstrations and building in room 249. Robles and Mr. Valenzuela, LAHS’s engineering teacher, welcome anybody interested in helping build the griffin or learning more about engineering to help.
“Any student interested in engineering that wants to learn animatronics from freshmen to seniors can come on board and contribute to not only learning but also building the animatronic,” Mr. Valenzuela said.
