Robotics at Walsh MS, Framingham, MA

Presentation for the RSVA meeting on 15-OCT-2014By Richard Serwetman, RSVA Volunteer

Robotics At Walsh MS 2

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

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Robotics At Walsh MS 3

Starting Up• Learning Assembly, Programming, Documentation Skills

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Robotics At Walsh MS 4

The Reference Robot (Clawbot)

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Examples of ClawbotConstruction Guide Pages

Robotics At Walsh MS 5

Initial Success• It’s Alive!

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Robotics At Walsh MS 6

The Game (VEX Toss Up)

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COMPETION SCHEDULE16-NOV-2013 Scrimmage11-JAN-2014 MA Championship08-FEB-2014 Scrimmage01-MAR-2014 NE Regional22-MAR-2014 Scrimmage21 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” VerticalCylinder)

Hang Bar (40” high)

2” Bump

Barrier 12” high

Robotics At Walsh MS 7

Competition• Students, Robots at a Competition

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Robotics At Walsh MS 8

School Spirit• We valued Support from School Officials & Parents

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Robotics At Walsh MS 9

Success at Competitions• Some of our teams won multiple awards• They qualified to compete at the World Championships

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Robotics At Walsh MS 10

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

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Robotics At Walsh MS 11

Up in Smoke

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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

Robotics At Walsh MS 12

RSVA STEM Awards Presented to Walsh Students & School

• Robot Assisted Mel Weinzimer with the Presentations

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Robotics At Walsh MS 13

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

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Robotics At Walsh MS 14

The New Game (VEX Skyrise)

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COMPETION SCHEDULE08-NOV-2014 Scrimmage20-DEC-2014 Scrimmage10-JAN-2015 Scrimmage07-FEB-2015 MA Championship08-FEB-2014 Scrimmage07-MAR-2015 SNE Regional15 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

Robotics At Walsh MS 15

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

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Robotics At Walsh MS 16

Reference MaterialsYou Can find more information at:

– Schools:• Framingham Schools: http://www.framingham.k12.ma.us/• High School Robotics Club: FHS-Robotics.com• Walsh Middle School: http://www.framingham.k12.ma.us/walsh.cfm

– VEX Robotics:• Vex Robotics: http://www.vexrobotics.com/• Clawbot Assembly Guide:

http://content.vexrobotics.com/docs/instructions/276-2600-CLAWBOT-INST-0512.pdf• VEX Toss Up Game Rules:

http://content.vexrobotics.com/docs/vex-toss-up/VEX-Toss-Up-GameManual_Rev041913.pdf

• VEX Skyrise Game Rules: http://www.roboticseducation.org/documents/2014/04/skyrise-game-manual.pdf

Author Contact: rsva@serwetman.comRev: 10/11/2014