Robotics at Walsh MS, Framingham, MA Presentation for the RSVA meeting on 15-OCT-2014 By Richard Serwetman, RSVA Volunteer
Robotics Club Formation The Walsh Robotics Club was initiated in Fall of 2013 – Led by teacher with prior Robotics club experience: Pascal Chesnais – Hoped for Pilot Program with 6 students – Surprise: 18 students joined – RSVA Volunteers provide support > Mel Weinzimer& Rich Serwetman – Club receives support/funding from multiple sources including Raytheon and RSVA – Walsh Initiative leads to creation of teams at Framingham High School and at Fuller Middle School Robotics At Walsh MSRev: 10/11/20142
Starting Up Learning Assembly, Programming, Documentation Skills Robotics At Walsh MSRev: 10/11/20143
The Reference Robot (Clawbot) Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS4 Examples of Clawbot Construction Guide Pages
Initial Success It’s Alive! Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS5
The Game (VEX Toss Up) Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS6 COMPETION SCHEDULE 16-NOV-2013 Scrimmage 11-JAN-2014 MA Championship 08-FEB-2014 Scrimmage 01-MAR-2014 NE Regional 22-MAR-2014 Scrimmage 21 to 24-APR-2014 World Championship Two Alliances Compete in each round - Two Teams per alliance Each Match is 2 minutes long - 15 sec autonomous mode - 1 min 45 sec driver controlled play Points Scored by Moving Bucky Balls and Large Balls at Locations on the field (Middle Zone, Goal Zone, into Goal Cylinder) Local Competitions Held at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester NE Regional: 32 Robots from 12 different Middle Schools competed No-score zone Middle zone Goal zone Goal (24” Vertical Cylinder) Hang Bar (40” high) 2” Bump Barrier 12” high
Competition Students, Robots at a Competition Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS7
School Spirit We valued Support from School Officials & Parents Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS8
Success at Competitions Some of our teams won multiple awards They qualified to compete at the World Championships Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS9
Framingham Teams Walsh MS, Fuller MS, and the Framingham High School had participating teams Teams had their own T-Shirt designs; Walsh also had a Banner made RSVA helped to subsidize travel costs to the World Championships Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS10
Up in Smoke Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS11 During a World Competition match our robot suddenly halted and started smoking A misplaced wire was cut by the robot arm, placing a short across the battery
RSVA STEM Awards Presented to Walsh Students & School Robot Assisted Mel Weinzimer with the Presentations Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS12
This Year’s Club off to a Big Start Over 35 students participating so far (including 9 girls) There are more teams, with more & bigger robots, than last year RSVA Volunteers Rich Serwetman, Walter Caughey & Mel Weinzimer are assisting Mr. Chesnais with this large group Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS13
The New Game (VEX Skyrise) Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS14 COMPETION SCHEDULE 08-NOV-2014 Scrimmage 20-DEC-2014 Scrimmage 10-JAN-2015 Scrimmage 07-FEB-2015 MA Championship 08-FEB-2014 Scrimmage 07-MAR-2015 SNE Regional 15 to 17-APR-2015 World Championship Requires significantly different Robot designs -Cubes are larger & heavier than Bucky Balls -Larger Robot Base required -Longer Arms Needed to raise cubes to greater heights Points Scored by Moving & Placing Cubes at Colored Floor Goals, on Posts, on Skyrise Sections, and by building the Skyrise sections Competitions Held at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester
RSVA Support Appreciated RSVA and Raytheon have provided key support for the Walsh and other Framingham Robotics Clubs in this valued STEM activity – Volunteers – Funding Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS15
Reference Materials You Can find more information at: – Schools: Framingham Schools: High School Robotics Club: FHS-Robotics.comFHS-Robotics.com Walsh Middle School: – VEX Robotics: Vex Robotics: Clawbot Assembly Guide: CLAWBOT-INST-0512.pdfhttp://content.vexrobotics.com/docs/instructions/ CLAWBOT-INST-0512.pdf VEX Toss Up Game Rules: Toss-Up-GameManual_Rev pdfhttp://content.vexrobotics.com/docs/vex-toss-up/VEX- Toss-Up-GameManual_Rev pdf VEX Skyrise Game Rules: Author Contact: Rev: 10/11/2014Robotics At Walsh MS16