Springfield students to enter robotics competition

Technology education just got a big boost in the Springfield School District.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20121220/THISJUSTIN/121229994

Springfield students to enter robotics competition By Christian Avard Staff Writer | December 20,2012 Rutland Herald SPRINGFIELD — Technology education just got a big boost in the Springfield School District. The Radical Robotics Club at the River Valley Technical Center in Springfield received a $3,000 grant to compete in robot competitions. According to a River Valley Tech Center teacher, participating in these competitions enhances student learning and benefits school programs. “Robotics is the big thing in technology education. What we are doing is giving students a very hands on approach to learning,” Christopher Gray, River Valley Technical Center Mechanical Design and Innovation Teacher said. The club used half of the grant to purchase start-up kits to compete at the First Robotics Competition, an international high school robotics organized by For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST). Each year, teams of high school students build robots weighing up to 120 pounds that can complete a task. Teams are also given a budget to purchase parts or make their own provided they conform to FIRST safety rules. FIRST now includes a competition for middle school students called “Middle School Mindstorm” competition in which students create smaller robots to perform a variety of activities. “Vermont has been struggling to get FIRST up and running. It was really an effort spearheaded through Doug Webster at the Vermont Department of Education and it was offered to all 16 tech centers and some high schools,” Gray said. The Radical Robotics Club used the second half of the grant to purchase Arduino processors, robotic brains that make electronics functioning user-friendly. The students will program robots with the Arduino controllers in competitions and other projects at the River Valley Technical Center. “We're demystifying robots. They're not these complex things only super-powered engineers can figure out.” The premier FIRST robotics competition takes place Feb. 23 at the University of Vermont. Gray expects up to 30 teams will participate. The Radical Robotics Club is an after-school program for middle and high school students in the Springfield School District, Bellows Falls region and Walpole, N.H. area. The groups will sending teams of Riverside Middle School students to compete for the first time at the UVM competition.