CTEC High School utilizes robotic dog to teach students valuable skills for their future

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A group of high school students are getting technical career skills for their future.

But the new piece of equipment that's helping train them may not be what you expect.

Inside the Career Technical Education Charter High School automation lab, you may see a quirky-looking dog.

The robotic dog which hasn't been named yet, can sit up and appear to pray, walk, and shake its back end.

It may be cute to look at, but it's also used for education.

"It comes with a lot of curriculum to help our students learn about a programming language called Python that we interface with and what these machines actually learn from." CTEC Instructor of Advanced Manufacturing Brian Emerson.

All of the commands the dog does are programmed and created.

Students learn each and every step.

The system is also used to program robotic arms that are used in different phases of manufacturing at major facilities.

"The robots in the background are used in automation facilities from Amazon to Tesla," Emerson said.

Students learn how to program and use each one.

They're so good at it that one student programmed this robot to write "ABC 30" in the short time we were there.

Students like Elias Solorio work through their junior year to refine their skills.

"Ever since I was little kid I've always liked messing with machines and different electronics and things like that," Solorio said.

Then, during their senior year, 8 to 16 hours of their week is spent at a paid internship using their skills.

Through partnerships with local organizations, students build competitive robots from scratch and take them to tournaments.

They learn to program, and overall, get access to equipment for growth, even if it does come in the form of a cute robotic dog.

"It's honestly so cool to learn and learn how to use and operate these different machines that I never thought I would've ever crossed paths with," Solorio said.

Enrollment for next year's incoming freshmen is open now.

You can find more information on how to enroll by clicking here.