Dexter’s Middle School Robotics Teams Prepare for the Third Year of Competition – thesuntimesnews.com

By Audrey McMichael, Dreadbot Reporter

Our Dexter Dread Bolts and Dreadbytes now have two full seasons under their belts in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge.

In this rewarding activity, 7th and 8th-grade students are faced with a challenge where they compete with other Michigan teams to earn points. Teams compete at regional events in alliances consisting of two teams. Students have to be creative and sometimes think like engineers to design and build the robot their team uses in competition.

The challenge the teams faced last year was called Ultimate Goal. During the first 30 seconds of each short but intense match, robots were only permitted to use pre-programmed instructions prepared by the team; team members could only touch controllers after that time expired. Clever student-built robots worked to move swiveling pegs into the predetermined target zone and then placed rings on them. Rings were also used to score points by being shot by the robot into the goals on the far side of the field. The last part of the match (known as the end game) challenged robots to carry or place swiveling pegs back at the starting point or in specially designated portions of the playing field.

Even though the Covid-19 pandemic, the Dread Bolts and Dreadbytes continued to advance their knowledge in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) and made adjustments to keep everyone safe at this uncertain time. Students and mentors gathered on Zoom calls rather than in a build space and passed the robot from house to house. Team members said, Were thrilled to have a working robot and that we still learned a lot!

The Dread Bolts and Dreadbytes worked together with their teammates to create an outline of the different manipulators and parts the robot needed to complete the task such as chassis, loader, conveyor, and shooter. The students also divided their team members into roles and subteams that focused on tasks like build, software, and drive. While prototyping the bot and its manipulators, other students focused on brainstorming and strategizing. After prototyping, the students decided on a final idea and began building, wiring, and programming their competition robot.

As competition season approached, teams finished preparing their bot and packed everything needed for the matches. Competitions run throughout the day and are typically in a large school gym. Every team in the competition has its own stand/dugout and most teams have unique buttons you can collect as you meet other competitors. Although health precautions are still in place, these roboticists are now more excited than ever to work on the robot in person this year.

If you have any interest in joining (or know someone who should), the FIRST Robotics Challenge is for high school students (Dexter High School is home to team 3656, the Dreadbots), FIRST Tech Challenge team is for middle school students in the 7th and 8th grade, and FIRST Lego League has members from Kindergarten through 6th grade. Please email DexterDROIDProgram@gmail.com for further information regarding current and future teams along with volunteer opportunities for parents to be involved in the program.

Photo credits: Dexter Robotics Club

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Dexter's Middle School Robotics Teams Prepare for the Third Year of Competition - thesuntimesnews.com