For 33 students at Issaquah High School, the past six weeks have been a whirlwind of geometry and physics, engineering and construction, long hours and late nights — all culminating in a working, 120 pound robot.

The six-year-old Issaquah Robotics Society will see what the robot can do at its first competition in Portland, Or. in March.

The club competes every year in the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST, robotics competition, which gives teams six weeks to design, build and program a robot to compete in a three-day regional event.

Each year, the goal of the competition is different; this year, teams must equip the robots with a trailer filled with foam balls, and attempt to deposit them all in another robot’s trailer.

“Every year it’s a brand new game. It’s like being a basketball player and not knowing what basketball is until six weeks beforehand,” said Elyse Edwards, team president and IHS senior. “And there’s a lot to learn, too — things as simple as how to use a hand drill.”

The club meets weekly during the school year, and daily during the build period. Members are organized into different sub-teams to build the different parts, such as electrical, mechanical and programming. The robot needs to operate both autonomously and by remote control for different parts of the competition.

But without community help, none of it could happen, Edwards said. Putting the robot together and entering competitions isn’t cheap — the entry fee for the first competition alone is $6,000.

The team receives grants from Boeing and the Issaquah Schools Foundation, and is supported by the Flow International Corporation, a Kent-based company that cuts the robot materials at no cost, and provides free machine time.

The team also gets support from a variety of mentors — community members and engineers who help out with the design and building, or simply just stop in to say hi. And they’re always looking for more.

“There are a lot of people in the community who don’t know that we exist,” Edwards said. “We would love anyone to be a mentor, even if that means just stopping in and seeing what’s going on.”

Last year’s team traveled to Atlanta, Ga. for the FIRST championships, after snagging the Chairman’s Award at the regional event in Portland. That award honors the team that best represents FIRST’s goal of inspiring excitement about science and technology in the next generation of students.

The team did just that through a substantial amount of community outreach, including giving presentations to the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce and Kiwanis Club, attending elementary school science fairs, hosting technology workshops for Girl Scouts, and mentoring and hosting tournaments for middle school teams.

The group also made presentations to the state Legislature last year that led to the inclusion of $150,000 in the state budget to support FIRST teams with fees at Washington high schools.

Edwards, who will be attending Johns Hopkins University in the fall, said her experience on the team has been invaluable .

“I would say this is what defines my high school experience. Being a part of this really pays out,” she said.

Club member and IHS senior Peter Brook, who will be attending the University of Washington, said his experience on the team has led to several paid internships, including at Microsoft.

“It’s opened so many doors. I would definitely say this program has increased my passion for engineering,” he said.

The group’s first competition will be in Portland from March 5-7. A second regional competition will be held in Seattle from March 26-28.

For more information, or a schedule of events, go to www.issaquahrobotics.org.