AI in Design, Fabrication and Robotics
Jayden Leung ’26 programming a robot in collaboration with Vincent Lau ’28. They are enhancing the robot’s orientation capabilities to help it recognize items and pick them up during competitions.
Through AI visual platforms, students can bring their ideas to life – everything from business logos to cutting-edge designs for robots. AI visual tools can also assist students during the prototyping process. For example, the graph above helps students identify potential stress points in a part they are fabricating. Areas highlighted in red indicate structural vulnerabilities, allowing for more informed decisions during fabrication.
Robotics exemplifies the interdisciplinary nature of learning because it fuses design to conceive a machine’s form, fabrication to bring it to life and computer science to expand its intelligence. The integration of AI into this process has amplified Punahou’s already exceptional robotics initiatives. This past December, the School’s robotics team, 6962 Pokébolts, captured the Hawai‘i FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship – which advanced it to the world championship in Houston. They competed in April and finished in the top 99.5th percentile globally.
Punahou’s 6962 Pokébolts From left to right, Top Row: Jayden Leung ’26, Daniel Lin ’26, Coco Heahlke ’28, Matt Matsumoto ’27, Julian Williams ’27, Tahan Bapna ’27, Bottom Row: Coach Yamada-Hall, Coach Kinnear, Kala‘i Kelekolio ’26, Vincent Lau ’28, Nick Williams ’25, Tyler Wee ’26, Charlie Koh ’27, Coach Baffoe.
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