Last year, they had to clean up oil spills in Texas; this year, they have to prevent a nuclear power plant meltdown like Chernobyl in competition simulations. Who are they? The Brownwood Intermediate School Robotics Team.
At the first meeting of the year, sponsor Christine Moore encouraged students to brainstorm, develop a plan, and execute extensive programming in preparation for this year’s Robotics Competition. Guest speaker Jason Abbott, a Kohler Project Engineer, shared with the 17 students how robots are used in the real world, the importance of knowing and sticking to a budget, and tips on how to identify key tasks their robots would have to perform in order to accomplish the final goal. While the actual point of the competition is not to transport volatile plutonium, students will build robots out of Lego pieces, with working motors and programmed computers, into a 4’ x 4’ mapped field.
Last year’s oil fields were recreated with Big Red and tuna cans; this year, they have to adapt to moving and disposing of red and black checkers.
The Regional and Area competitions will be held this fall and the Robotics team will meet Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays until then to prepare for the challenging task ahead of them.
Each student was given a thick packet of information and rules for the competition; robots must fit into a 12-inch cube, they should be able to store checkers to gain points, they must start at a certain spot on the board and can only return to the start one time or risk disqualification, students must operate and repair the robots without sponsor collaboration, and robots have to identify the difference between red and black checkers placed at random. Each robot will be programmed to perform a specific sequence of events, such as traveling two feet, turning right, scooping checkers, and disposing of red ones in the “cooling chamber.” Moore encouraged students as she explained the new rules and objective.
“It’s going to be tough,” Moore said, “but it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Moore asked the students if anyone would like to display their robots’ abilities from last year and 17 hands flew into the air. While several robots needed some program tweaking, enthusiasm was high as students shared ideas for rebuilding. Concerns were raised over the fact that robots would have to distinguish between red and black checkers; the original robot kits were purchased with grant funding, which has been fully utilized, but there are not enough color sensors for each student. Creativity and teamwork will be key for students at this competition, and fundraising will be critical for participation in the event, but the Robotics team has supportive leadership and the ability to think outside the box.
“We’re going to do lots of research, plan, and help each other,” Moore said. “There are no bad ideas.”
More information and updates about the Robotics team is available on the
