2019-2020 RSU 1 Robotics

RSU 1's Middle School Robotics Program has started up for the year with the biggest enrollment we have ever seen. Robotics is popular, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Building and programming small, autonomous machines requires a true interdisciplinary approach that engages kids as they imagine, build, problem-solve, test and innovate their creations. Just look at some of the photos posted here; the concentration on the faces of the kids is almost palpable.

We received another generous grant from the Davenport Trust this summer, allowing us to buy a set of new, more advanced robots called the Robomaster S1. They are made by DJI, the same company that has taken over the drone market with a wide range of high quality flying cameras. DJI incorporated a lot of its drone technology into the Robomaster, even though it doesn't fly. The Robomasters are unlike LEGOs in that they are built with nuts and bolts from pre-formed plastic pieces and are not modular. Once they are built, they will remain built. I'm offering second and third year robotics students the chance to build the Robomasters. They are programmed with a version of "Scratch," MIT's block-programming environment. A cool feature of the user interface is the ability to toggle the screen between Scratch and Python, to give users an idea of what their programs would look like in code. The Robomaster has advanced capabilities that will allow kids to experiment with sophisticated programming structures like PID Controllers (proportion, integral, derivative). The Robomaster also has mecanum wheels, consisting of long rollers embedded at 45º all the way around each of the wheels. This allows the robot to steer and move omni-directionally without the need for the wheels themselves to change direction. It's pretty ingenious!

The first-year robotics students are building their first creation out of LEGOs, the "driving base." These two wheeled rovers are the perfect way to explore the foundations of programming. We will begin with giving the robots basic commands, and then move on to collecting data with sensors. Finally, the kids will devise ways for their robots to use the data collected by sensors to make decisions and inform their next moves. These tasks constitute the beginning stages of understanding Artificial Intelligence. 

We plan to host two competitions over the course of the year, so stay posted. 

SUMO COMPETITION SET FOR MAY 23rd

Robot Competition #1 2019

Roboteers carrying their kits to the venue.

With all the snow days and some changes in school personnel, LEGO Robotics got off to a slower than normal start this year. We finally held our first competition of the 2018-19 school year on Wednesday, March 13th. Three schools were represented: Woolwich Central School, Georgetown Central School, and Bath Middle School. The evening’s contests were “speedbot” and “table clearing.” The speedbots have to go straight for 18 feet, and the winner is the one that spans the distance in the shortest amount of time. Believe it or not, designing a robot that goes straight is the most challenging part of this event. Because the robots are timed using a laser-tripped device that is only three feet wide, it doesn’t matter how fast your robot goes if it veers off the course. Likewise, you might think that the table-clearing robot should be focused on knocking cans off the table, when in fact, the most important capability is to not fall off the table. 

I used a document camera from my classroom to create a jury-rigged Jumbo-Tron for everyone to see the action on the table.

We had around 100 people in the audience -- a big crowd for a Wednesday night!

BMS 6th grader, Waylon, starting up his table-clearing 'bot. It cleared five of the eight cans to tie for 3rd place. 

It's pretty scary for anyone to have a robot that they've built and programmed from scratch compete in front of a room full of watching eyes. Imagine what that experience is like for a middle school student! I am continually impressed by the poise and good sportsmanship displayed by every single student. Congratulations to the winners, and kudos to all the kids who applied their creativity, knowledge and hard work to their robots.

Parent volunteer Amos Wright coordinating the start on the speedbot course for a team from Georgetown.

Elias, a 7th grader from BMS proudly showing off his speedbot which placed third.

This speedbot from WCS was fast, but couldn't go straight.  The team only added the wheel extensions after the competition, which is too bad, because it would have won. 

Here are the results:

SPEEDBOT:

1. NOAH FREEMERMAN, BMS: 4.036 SECONDS
2. ANNA BARABEE AND YASMEEN DOUAR, GCS: 4.875 SECONDS
3. ELIAS MARTIN AND LOCHLAN ALDRICH, BMS, 5.78 SECONDS

TABLE-CLEARING:

1. JILLIAN ACKLEY AND DECLAN WRIGHT, BMS, ALL CANS IN 50.9 SECONDS
2. JOSIAH KELLER, BMS, ALL CANS IN 54.89 SECONDS
3. TWO-WAY TIE: SERA CAMPBELL, WCS & WAYLON RHORER AND MICHAEL RYAN, BMS: 5 CANS KNOCKED OFF

We are all looking forward to the Sumo competition coming up in May which is sure to be a really exciting (and often hilarious) event. We will announce the date of the competition in the coming weeks.