VEX Robotics Competition
Source/Author: Richard Rho, Upper School Robotics Coach
December 15, 2017
This past weekend, the two Upper School Shorecrest Robotics teams took a bus to Winter Haven High School to participate in a VEX Robotics Competition. The teams, 6014A and 6014B, placed in 8th and 9th place respectively. This was a great opening qualifier for both teams. They had some good victories, some close matches, and some losses.
At the core of robotics are the important 21st Century Skills that it nurtures. Each year, the competition releases a new game and objectives, and students brainstorm strategies and approaches and negotiate with their peers about the benefits and advantages of their ideas over other competing ideas. Additionally, students learn about various systems such as mechanics, sensors, and programming. Through the open-ended nature of the competition, robotics team members engage in problem solving, critical thinking, decision making, creativity and collaboration as they transform their ideas into reality. They get to test their hypotheses by building mechanisms, taking feedback from those trials, and improving upon their designs from the feedback. The process is a continual evolution as they get to design more efficient and effective approaches. Students also reflect a great deal about the process by logging their ideas, results, and reflections in an engineering notebook. They collect data on their ideas through sketches, photos, and write-ups including all the successes as well as the failures.
Most importantly, after the competition, each team talked about how they could improve their robots. They were amazed at the caliber of some robots and at the innovative approaches some of the other teams took. The students were very keen of their losses and post-competition they highlighted areas they could improve upon for their next go around. It is a valuable moment for our students when they get the chance to improve upon their initial designs and ideas, and is part of why robotics is a unique opportunity for students.
At the core of robotics are the important 21st Century Skills that it nurtures. Each year, the competition releases a new game and objectives, and students brainstorm strategies and approaches and negotiate with their peers about the benefits and advantages of their ideas over other competing ideas. Additionally, students learn about various systems such as mechanics, sensors, and programming. Through the open-ended nature of the competition, robotics team members engage in problem solving, critical thinking, decision making, creativity and collaboration as they transform their ideas into reality. They get to test their hypotheses by building mechanisms, taking feedback from those trials, and improving upon their designs from the feedback. The process is a continual evolution as they get to design more efficient and effective approaches. Students also reflect a great deal about the process by logging their ideas, results, and reflections in an engineering notebook. They collect data on their ideas through sketches, photos, and write-ups including all the successes as well as the failures.
Most importantly, after the competition, each team talked about how they could improve their robots. They were amazed at the caliber of some robots and at the innovative approaches some of the other teams took. The students were very keen of their losses and post-competition they highlighted areas they could improve upon for their next go around. It is a valuable moment for our students when they get the chance to improve upon their initial designs and ideas, and is part of why robotics is a unique opportunity for students.
"All the students did a great job and they all were helpful to their peers and even to their competitors, which was great to see. It was also great to see them all work together especially when their robots needed tuning or fixing in between matches. It was great to see our robotics teams brainstorming how they could improve their robots to be even better the next time around. I look forward to seeing their improvements in the coming weeks!" said team coach Richard Rho.
The next Upper School Robotics competition is at Berkeley Prep on January 13. Before then, team 6104B will endeavor to design a cone gripper, a new scoring goal lifter, and a new drive base that gives them better maneuverability.
View more photos here:
View more photos here:
