When campus was shut down late spring semester, so too were all RoboJackets activities. Even our members who remained in the Atlanta area were barred from campus until a concrete plan to deal with COVID-19 was put forth by the institute. In early August, we were allowed back into our space in the Student Competition Center (SCC) for the first time since mid-March. Our president, Alex Field (pictured below sans haircut), led the charge to clean the space, take stock of our equipment, and put up cautionary signs. The initial reopening was successful; however, all we can do for now is prepare the space and wait for further permission to proceed with work.
The SCC is a shared space, so we must take the other competitive teams into account when planning our semester. Currently, RoboJackets leadership is meeting with leaders from the other teams in the SCC to create a plan that simultaneously protects the health of our members and allows our physical work to continue as necessary. So far, this consists of a nightly sanitization, additional PPE requirements, limited shop days, and occupancy restrictions. We hope that through this careful planning, we can make the RoboJackets shop a safe place for our members to work. After all, our members are excited to get back in to work on their robots (in an appropriately distanced manner, of course)!
