Do you know:
- How to make a servo go from continuous rotation mode to standard mode and vice-versa?
- How to use a timing belt and pulley system?
- How to make/use a mecanum drive train?
- How to properly mesh gears together, especially bevel gears?
- How to make/rig a linear slide?
- How to use a lead screw to transfer rotational motion into linear motion?
If you were a member of North Springs High School’s First Robotics team, you would! Sandy Springs Education Force is thrilled to report that this team, a recipient of one of our STEAM Legacy grants, excelled, won multiple awards this school year and learned a lot about engineering in the process.
The team surpassed last year’s results and bested past outcomes. Over the past year, the team:
- Improved their rank by the end of the season compared to last season to 11th from 29th and qualified for the FTC State Competition (held on 2/21 and 2/22).
- Won 3rd place for the prestigious “Inspire Award” at the Marist Blue and Gold Leagues. The Inspire award is FIRST’s top award, taking into account all aspects of a robotics team including robot design, robot function, documentation of work and gracious professionalism.
- Won the “Think Award” at the Marist Blue and Gold Leagues. The Think Award is given to the team with the best engineering notebook which includes every design decision and justification. It also includes many other topics such as a business plan, Team Summary and Sustainability plan.
- Improved the length and quality of their engineering documentation through an engineering notebook and won an award for it at their region competition.
And that is just a selection of their many accomplishments, which also included incorporating sophisticated Java programming to run their robot and using a CAD program to design the robot.
However, there is much more to this team’s success than these documented wins! Team members also have the opportunity to develop and hone key problem-solving skills and other transferable business skills.
Stefan Singer, math teacher, and club sponsor explained, “The students own the entire process from beginning to end. I try to give them the freedom to make their own design decisions (and at times, mistakes), including how they will approach the competition. What impresses me the most is that even when their designs don’t succeed, the discussion about how the problems will be fixed begins immediately. They are constantly innovating and improving their design – a key aspect of real-world engineering.”
Derek Coffsky, an 11th grader and team president/lead builder noted, “Our team was able to design the whole robot from scratch. For me, learning how to create a robot from the beginning stages such as adhering to a budget, choosing and purchasing building materials and designing specific functional components align very closely to the skills I plan to use daily in my career. The robotics team has given me an avenue to develop these skills.”
Sponsors of our STEAM Showcase help make it possible for Sandy Springs Education Force to support this and other grants to our 11 public schools in the city.
Would you like to contribute to help us support programs like this? Donate today HERE.
Be sure to mark your calendar to join us for the STEAM Showcase on March 11th, from 6-8 pm at North Springs High School, 7447 Roswell Rd NE, Sandy Springs, GA 30328.
Leave a Reply