The Robotics Club - New to NHS
This year for the first time NHS has a Robotics Club. Sponsoring a Robotics Club is a pretty amazing feat. Not only did the school need to find a teacher to step up to the plate as the advisor…thank you Mrs. Johnson, we also needed to find some engineers to assist as advisors…and we needed to find grant money. Thanks to grants from GE, JCPenny, UTC and NEF the club has garnered $20,000 to help them get set up and pay entry fees (which are not cheap).
The students in the club watched the live announcement about the competition from Manchester, NH, with a message from President Bush and President Clinton. They have ~6 weeks to create a moving robot that does a set of moves on the court (that would be throwing a basketball, crossing a raised bridge, etc.). The students involved in this project are very committed, meeting most days after school for 4 hours plus every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until February 18th. On March 8 the team will travel to Worcester Poly Tech to compete regionally.
The students are on one of three teams: the Design Team, the Programming Team or the Electronics Team. There are also three task groups. One is focused on the chassis, one is tasked with how to balance the robot on the bridge and the third on how to shoot the ball into the hoop. Each group has one or two people from each of the Teams working together.
The school has gotten $20,000 in grants from GE, JC Penney, UTC, and NEF (and we extend our thanks to all four of these organizations)! Donations of materials and supplies have also been provided. Our volunteer engineer mentors hail from area businesses (UTC and GE) and three Hampshire College students whom have competed on teams in the past are also helping to train and guide the students. For more information about the Robotics Competition check out the US FIRST page at http://www.usfirst.org/.