Goleta’s Octobots Robotics Team Heads to State Championship

In a cavernous room in Goleta, a loose constellation of high school students hovered around a three-foot-tall, half-built robot — wires exposed, laptops propped beside it. Others lingered nearby, talking, laughing, eating spaghetti out of takeout containers. Mentors circled, offering guidance but not taking over. It felt like a workshop-meets-hangar-meets-clubhouse.

Now, that same group — the Octobots robotics team — is headed to the state stage.

The Octobots Robotics Team 9084, a Santa Barbara–area, student-led team, will compete in the FIRST Robotics California Southern State Championship, April 9-12 at the Anaheim Convention Center, after advancing through two district competitions and earning the “Quality Award” for their robot’s “robustness in concept and fabrication.”

“Only the top 60 out of 151 Southern California teams make it this far,” said team parent and boardmember Diana Pereira. “These kids put in thousands of hours and they earned every point.”

For the roughly 30 to 40 students on the team, the path to Anaheim has meant hours of self-taught coding, iterative design, and trial and failure.

“I joined when I was a freshman,” said Uma Vulliez, a junior at Dos Pueblos High School. “I really like the community that we build. It’s very welcoming; people are very kind. It always feels like the place where there’s multiple opportunities where we can build lots of things and get lots of hands-on experience.”

Founded in 2023, the team operates as an independent nonprofit — separate from a school, though largely composed of Dos Pueblos students — and relies almost entirely on community support. The group is currently fundraising to sustain and expand the program, including a $200,000 campaign to purchase new equipment and cover competition costs. 

“This team operates entirely on the generosity of our community,” Pereira said. “We receive no regular funding from the school or any outside source…. Every dollar we spend … has to be raised from scratch, every single year.” Those wishing to donate can do so here.

Mentors say the fundraising model mirrors the real world more closely than a traditional classroom.

“This FRC team operates like a small startup company,” said lead mentor Michael Ramsey. “You get a product idea and then you have to fundraise, come up with prototypes, design, build, and program. You put the product to its test in the competition.”

This year’s challenge requires teams to design robots capable of collecting game pieces, navigating obstacles, and scoring into elevated targets — all within a fast-paced, competitive arena.

For students, the experience is as much about collaboration as it is about engineering. “It’s a great place where you can make mistakes and learn to work with people,” Vulliez said.

For the mentors, they describe their role less as instructors and more as guides. “We try to be the tug boats on the side of the Queen Mary,” Ramsey said. “We try to steer them the right way.”

For many, the impact stretches well beyond high school. Ramsey’s son signed up for the robotics team many moons ago. Ramsey, who is a “computer guy” by trade, was equally passionate. “We got addicted,” Ramsey said. “It turned my son into an aerospace engineer.”

Alumni frequently return, drawn back by that same energy.

“It’s so much fun,” said Lane Fuller, a former team member who now mentors. “There’s not really any sports for this kind of stuff…. To go into the arena with all these high schools, it’s very exciting.”

For students who may not gravitate toward traditional athletics, he added, robotics offers something comparable. “They get to experience being a part of a team,” Fuller said.

Mentor Mike Cameron, who has worked with robotics students for more than a decade, said the program offers a rare opportunity: “To make something from an idea all the way through is something really rare for high school students,” he said. “Even college students.”

As the Octobots prepare for Anaheim, the rhythm inside their workspace remains unchanged: show up, build, test, laugh, and have fun. 

“They came in as students and they’re leaving as engineers, leaders, and teammates,” Pereira said. “These are the moments they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives.”