Robots took a immerse in the pool Saturday at Coronado High School in western Colorado Springs.
About the dimension of a shoebox, with plastic pipe frames, the machines used dip noodle foam to keep afloat.
No, they weren’t looking for unsuspecting victims as part of an alien plot. These robots churned through the water, passing through submerged rings as part of an obstacle course to test the savvy of five area high school robotics teams.
About 70 students from five school district worked in teams of three to build the submersible robots Saturday. They will eventually share their knowledge with younger kids.
Each team was given a robot kit, containing the half-inch pipe, foam, three small motors, a battery and several other technical gizmos. The scattered tools and debris in the school’s cafeteria showed they worked hard all morning.
“It’s definitely a lot of fun,” said Coronado senior Scott Von Thun, who had his prom Friday night and was “working on two hours of sleep.”
Von Thun partnered with another Coronado student and one from the Academy School District 20 put together a robot that navigated the obstacles pretty well.
Other teams struggled.
With Saturday’s training session winding down just after 2 p.m., a group of four robot scientists scrambled to fix their rig after it had already “taken a swim.” Andy Robinson, a junior at Vista Ridge High School, said his team figured out the problem and were almost ready to take it back to the pool.
“We’re finishing up,” he said while wrapping electrical tape around some PVC. “We tested the buoyancy and it wouldn’t go down fast enough.”
Von Thun’s D-11 team competed at the robotics national championships last week in St. Louis. The group came in seventh out of 88 teams and walked away with the Chairman’s Award, recognizing their robot-building skills and their community involvement.
Saturday’s session helped fulfill that community requirement for the D-11 team. Bryce McLean, a teacher at Coronado and coach of the host team, said one of the biggest goals of the team is to share their love for robotic technology.
“The hope is that they come here and learn, so that next falls, they can share that with the middle schoolers,” he said.
About the dimension of a shoebox, with plastic pipe frames, the machines used dip noodle foam to keep afloat.
About 70 students from five school district worked in teams of three to build the submersible robots Saturday. They will eventually share their knowledge with younger kids.
Each team was given a robot kit, containing the half-inch pipe, foam, three small motors, a battery and several other technical gizmos. The scattered tools and debris in the school’s cafeteria showed they worked hard all morning.
“It’s definitely a lot of fun,” said Coronado senior Scott Von Thun, who had his prom Friday night and was “working on two hours of sleep.”
Von Thun partnered with another Coronado student and one from the Academy School District 20 put together a robot that navigated the obstacles pretty well.
Other teams struggled.
With Saturday’s training session winding down just after 2 p.m., a group of four robot scientists scrambled to fix their rig after it had already “taken a swim.” Andy Robinson, a junior at Vista Ridge High School, said his team figured out the problem and were almost ready to take it back to the pool.
“We’re finishing up,” he said while wrapping electrical tape around some PVC. “We tested the buoyancy and it wouldn’t go down fast enough.”
Von Thun’s D-11 team competed at the robotics national championships last week in St. Louis. The group came in seventh out of 88 teams and walked away with the Chairman’s Award, recognizing their robot-building skills and their community involvement.
Saturday’s session helped fulfill that community requirement for the D-11 team. Bryce McLean, a teacher at Coronado and coach of the host team, said one of the biggest goals of the team is to share their love for robotic technology.
“The hope is that they come here and learn, so that next falls, they can share that with the middle schoolers,” he said.
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