Sophomore Cierra Bell and eighth-grader T. C. Arnold work on constructing the frame of a robot in the Mansfield Senior High School engineering lab.
On a sunny Tuesday afternoon when they could have been swimming or enjoying any number of other summer pastimes, eight young men and women were building robots in the engineering lab at Mansfield Senior High School.
They’ll return for another four-hour session on Saturday.
Yep, Saturday.
“They take this very seriously,” said Leslie Nielsen, who teaches engineering based on a curriculum provided by the national nonprofit Project Lead the Way program.
“These students are serious about their work, but they’re having fun too. They’re preparing for the national VEX Robotics Competition during the coming school year.”
The robots under construction aren’t simple Erector Set creations. They are complex multi-motor, multi-gear, remote-controlled devices -- about 18 inches tall -- designed to move on wheels, grasp objects, lift and turn. The two-stage work involves building the robot and creating the programming that directs its movements.
“I’ve been working on a (programming) concept that could be compatible with any robot we could build,” said eighth-grader T.C. Arnold. “There’s a lot of trial and error. Sometimes you have to tear it down and start over.”
As they worked Arnold and his fellow students munched on pizza and soft drinks provided by PR Machine Works, Inc. The Ontario company also provides a small stipend for Nielsen to work with the robotics club six times during the summer.
At a desk in the corner sophomore Sam Shank successfully linked his computer program to a motorized platform on wheels. At Shank’s command the robot base moved away from the desk then returned.
The VEX Robotics Competition will be staged at scores of sites across the nation during the 2014-15 school year, including locations in Ohio. The site where Senior High will compete has yet to be decided.
Basically, the VEX Skyrise challenge involves four robots built by different schools competing in two-minute rounds inside a 12’ by 12’ square field. The object is for the robots to grasp, lift and place color-coded cubes on perimeter posts and score extra points by constructing yellow Skyrise towers.
But there’s more to it.
“Schools will be paired randomly to create two teams for each competition,” Nielsen said. “Students from each school will have never met but they must overcome obstacles and work together as a two-robot team. It requires quick thinking and cooperation.”
The Senior High robotics club will practice on a 12’ by 12’ metal field identical to those used in the VEX competition. Funds to purchase the field, robot construction kits and an online virtual robot program tester have come from several local sources, including a $10,000 grant from the TE Connectivity Foundation.
Other contributors include the Regional Manufacturing Coalition/Gorman Rupp, the Mansfield Rotary Club and a Richland County Foundations Connections grant.
“Local financial support has made such a difference for us. We are grateful for it,” said Nielsen, whose teaching is supported by an advisory committee of local business, industry and manufacturing leaders.
The robotics club is an extension of what students learn in the classroom. In the coming school year Nielsen will teach a sophomore principles of engineering class – “Some interesting math will be involved in that” – two freshman engineering design classes and two eighth-grade Gateway classes which introduce students to engineering concepts.
This is the third year for the engineering program whose Project Lead the Way curriculum is designed to stimulate students’ interest in STEM courses – science, technology, engineering and math.
Sophomore Jonathan Cole has been involved since eighth grade.
“Next year will be my third in engineering,” he said as he worked in the lab Tuesday afternoon. “I love to build robots.”
About VEX Robotics
VEX Robotics is a subsidiary of Innovation First International, Inc., based in a 13-acre complex in Greenville, Texas. The company’s web site bills it as “the world’s premier classroom robotics platform for middle school, high school and beyond.”
“The VEX Robotics Design System offers students an exciting platform for learning about areas rich with career opportunities spanning science, technology, engineering and math,” the web site says. “Beyond science and engineering principles, a VEX Robotics project encourages teamwork, leadership and problem solving among groups. The VEX platform is expanding rapidly and is found in middle schools, high schools and university labs around the globe.”