MACC hosts Robotics Day

Janet Morales - February 28, 2011

MACC held its annual Robotics Day Competition February 11. The event is held each year as part of National Career and Technical Education Month.

Mark Chambers, coordinator of tech prep at MACC, is in charge of the event as well as placing robots into area schools. Chambers said there are about 40 robots, in the family of Lego Mindstorms, out in 25 schools in the region.

The region stretches pretty far. There were about 80 students at the event representing Northeast R-IV in Cairo, Auxvasse, Macon, Knox County and Monroe City.

Students in middle school and high school work with the programmable Legos as part of science and math curriculum. Classes build robots then bring them to the competition. The students are asked about the robots and their experiences working with them. In the afternoon they are given a challenge to construct a robot to certain specifications. This year, students in both middle school and high school had to build combines that could cover an irregular field.

“I told them combines today are more complex than the Gemini and Mercury space capsules were,” said Chambers.

Chambers said the morning exercise is more about troubleshooting and team work. The complex afternoon challenge is more about team work and problem solving.

The “field’ was placed in the middle of the Activity Center. Students rturned to the field time and again to test their robots and to install a memory of the “path”.

“See how they come and watch each other and learn from each other?” asked chambers. “Even the high school students are picking things up from the younger kids.”

What Chambers viewed as a collaborative learning experience, the Cairo middle schoolers saw as espionage. On one of their first trips to try their robot in the field, they noticed students from other schools watching their work.

“They were stealing our ideas so we made a decoy,”said Adeline.

They must have had some great ideas for the Cairo Middle School team took first place.

MACC held its annual Robotics Day Competition February 11. The event is held each year as part of National Career and Technical Education Month.Mark Chambers, coordinator of tech prep at MACC, is in charge of the event as well as placing robots into area schools. Chambers said there are about 40 robots, in the family of Lego Mindstorms, out in 25 schools in the region.The region stretches pretty far. There were about 80 students at the event representing Northeast R-IV in Cairo, Auxvasse, Macon, Knox County and Monroe City.Students in middle school and high school work with the programmable Legos as part of science and math curriculum. Classes build robots then bring them to the competition. The students are asked about the robots and their experiences working with them. In the afternoon they are given a challenge to construct a robot to certain specifications. This year, students in both middle school and high school had to build combines that could cover an irregular field.“I told them combines today are more complex than the Gemini and Mercury space capsules were,” said Chambers. Chambers said the morning exercise is more about troubleshooting and team work. The complex afternoon challenge is more about team work and problem solving.The “field’ was placed in the middle of the Activity Center. Students rturned to the field time and again to test their robots and to install a memory of the “path”.“See how they come and watch each other and learn from each other?” asked chambers. “Even the high school students are picking things up from the younger kids.”What Chambers viewed as a collaborative learning experience, the Cairo middle schoolers saw as espionage. On one of their first trips to try their robot in the field, they noticed students from other schools watching their work.“They were stealing our ideas so we made a decoy,”said Adeline.They must have had some great ideas for the Cairo Middle School team took first place.

Final Results:

High School Category:

1st Place Monroe City High School

2nd Place Northeast Randolph Co. R-IV High School

Middle School:

1st Place Northeast Randolph Co. R-IV Middle School

2nd Place:

Knox County R-I Middle School Team #1

Overall High Points

Monroe City High School