The elementary school held a science night, with a lot of forgettable activities... and robots. Two nearby high schools' robotics clubs were recruited to present demos. Here's the first:
Their adviser was clearly taking the attitude that "we're having fun learning even though we don't really know what we're doing." In the competition, their robot "came close to scoring a point, once."
Here's the second high school's robot:
A single picture doesn't do this justice. It had a forklift on the front for lifting inner tubes for one kind of point scoring. It had a kind of winch on the back to raise a flag for other points. It was 120 lbs, and *fast*. Melissa didn't get to drive this one; they were afraid someone might get hurt by a novice at the controls. It was controlled by two joystick setups connected to a laptop that talked to the robot over wifi.
Of *course* they were wearing their own Robotics Club T-shirts.
Did the students really do all this themselves? According to the student I talked to, they did. (I bet the advisers helped with fundraising from the sponsors on the side there, though.) The freshmen too? "Every Fall we have a recruiting drive where we teach freshmen how to solder. Everyone contributes."
When we first moved here, someone told Rachel that the area was popular was popular with Asians because one of the nearby high schools was the top in the area for science and technology. I think we know which one now. Now I wish Matthew was old enough to go there...
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