The Norwell High School robotics team seems to be operating on all cylinders.

The team is currently in the midst of major competitions with a robot they recently built. In fact, the team just left yesterday (Wednesday) to participate in a regional robotics competition in New Haven, Connecticut.

Last week, the team hit another regional competition at Columbia University in New York where it placed second overall and received a silver medal. The team will be participating in the national robotics competition at Epcot Center in Florida from April 24-28.

" There will be between 350-400 teams at the nationals, " said robotics teacher Mark Herman. " I’m confident they’ll do well. This has been a strong team from day one. "

Herman said the robotics team has only been in existence for three years, but since then, it’s had the same core group of members. Because of that consistency, Herman said the team really functions like a well-oiled machine. The team entered itself into major competitions for the last three years.

Each year, the process of entering the competition is the same.

" Each team gets two crates full of different parts (in January), " said Matt Lipschutz, a member of the robotics team. " We all get the same objective. "

Herman said from there, the team decides what kind of robot it’s going to build based on the competition guidelines. There’s only one catch — the team has just six weeks to build its robot.

" It’s really a team effort, " said Jason Rosen, another member of the team. " There’s all sorts of different aspects that need to be addressed when you’re building something like this, and it takes a lot of teamwork to do that. "

When the robot is finally built, the team readies itself for battle. The competitions this year will entail scoring on moving goals with the robots on a level playing field. Herman said his team’s robot can be programmed to pick up balls and move around via remote control. Like many other sports, the team with the most points wins.

Herman said each year, the nature of the competition changes.

" There’s a lot of pressure involved, " said robotics team member Jason Galvin. " You’re always doing things on the run while you’re competing. You have to keep changing things as you go. "

" A lot of the competition is not just driving the robot, " Rosen added. " There’s a lot of thinking involved. There’s no time for pre-planning. "

Jeff Deitz is the team member who is the official driver of the remote-controlled robot and Sam Freed is the programmer.

Herman said the total cost this year for travel, parts and all other aspects of the club is about $35,000. He said the team would not be able to compete without the help of a few people.

He said Steve Forti, owner of Mass Bay Engineering, contributed by letting the team use his engineering workshop at its disposal. He said Don Spradlin, who owns PIAB in Hingham, is a Norwell native who helps with financial donations. Pete Rosa is a local machinist who also gave his assistance to the team on a frequent basis.

" We also have the full backing from the school committee and the school system, " Herman said. He added school officials have helped with funding for the program as well.

" That’s our biggest obstacle — funding. Other teams have some really big sponsors, and we could use more of them too, " Herman said.

Now, the robotics team is readying itself for the next round. Before the team left, members were sent off on a high note on WATD radio in Marshfield. The team gathered with DJ Cathy Dee for an interview and robot demonstration on Tuesday. Those team members present included Rosen, Mike Monteiro, Kevin McClean, Galvin and Freed.

The members of the team are very confident with their chances as the next round of regionals and then, the nationals. They are not fazed or intimidated. They just want to win.

" In past years, there has been a little bit of confusion, " Rosen said. " This year, we really have a true team commitment. "