Category Archives: Robotics

The Zanesville High School robotics team is headed to the world competition this weekend. Chris Crook/Times Recorder

Alex Pinson, left, and Christian Sheline are two members of the Zanesville High School robotics team taking Devil Bot 6.x to the world competition in Louisville this weekend.(Photo: Chris Crook/Times Recorder)Buy Photo

ZANESVILLE -The Zanesville High School robotics team has qualified for the world competition for the sixth consecutive year.

Rick Mohler, the robotics coach, said Zanesville has qualified for the world competition every year the school has had a team. However, he added more area schools now have robotics teamsso he is proud of the continued success Zanesville has experienced.

The team will be competing at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky from Thursday to Saturday. Mohler said there will be about 500 teams in the competition.

The team is made up of six students and each student has a specific job. Senior Christian Shelineis a builder, sophomore Alex Pinson is a builder, designer and driver, senior Christopher Sheline is a builder, senior Rory Gamble is the head scout, sophomore Alec Mealick is a scout, and sophomore Austin McCoy is the head programmer.

"We want to win an award and do our best to represent the school and the community," Christian said.

The Devil Bot 6.x demonstrates its bean bag throwing ability.(Photo: Chris Crook/Times Recorder)

The team and Devil Bot 6.X, their robot, will be competing in the game Starstruck. There is arobot on each side of the field with 24stars and four cubes on the playing field. The goal is to throw the objects on the other side of the field to earn points.

Being involved in the robotics program has shaped what some of the team members wantto do after high school.

While Christian is a senior, this was his first year on the robotics team. He said he wanted to get involved because he's attending Ohio University for mechanical engineering in the fall.

"I have always liked science, math and engineering and I've always been interested in this but I didn't get involved until this year," Christian said. "I wanted to get my foot in the engineering field because I'm going on to do that in college and after that in a career field."

Pinson, who has been involved with the robotics program since he was in middle school, said the program has influenced him.

"I'm looking to do something in engineering after high school," Pinson said. "I help with the design process and it will be a stepping stone into the engineering and design field."

As previously reported in the TR, the John McIntire Elementary sixth-grade girls robotics team will also be competing on the world stage in the Vex IQ Challenge beginning April 23.

hkull@gannett.com

740-450-6772

Twitter: @haydenkull5

Read or Share this story: http://ohne.ws/2oSxN2c

Read more:

Zanesville robotics team ready for world stage - Zanesville Times Recorder

Shelton will send two robotics teams to compete in the international championships in St. Louis, Mo., later this month.

Team 230, also known as the Gaelhawks, have extended their season all the way to the First Robotics Competition international championship, which will take place April 26 to 29.

The Gaelhawks are made up of the following SHS students: Lusitania Gallahar, Jacob Zamani, Chris Macdonald, Josh Wilson, Brian Sanfilippo, Jake Daxner, Victoria OMalley, Aravind Ravishankar, and Michael Kichar.

They will be accompanied by a younger robotics team composed of seventh grade students from the citys intermediate school.

Counting down to St. Louis

As the teams departure to St.Louis is just days away, they said, this is a surprisingly less busy time period for them.

Aside from packing their bags, team members said, theyre also preparing to ship their robot to meet them in St. Louis. With their 93-pound robot, Talon 19, packaged up, they dont have the ability to make modifications to it in the days before it will appear in competition against teams from all over the globe.

Fortunately for the Gaelhawks, they have a practice robot they have been tweaking in preparation for the international championship.

Having a practice robot is useful, because it allows the drive team to practice, and gives us time to create new strategies that we can use in competition, said Ravishankar, the teams safety captain. We should have it running perfect when its time to compete.

Ravishankar said the time the team is spending on making tweaks to its practice robot isnt nearly as intense as the six-week building period it was allotted to build Talon 19, but once team members land in St. Louis, the pressure will be back on. There, Ravishankar said, their next task will be to duplicate on Talon 19 the changes they made to the practice robot.

City support

Robotics is undeniably popular in Shelton.

The community supports all of its robotics teams to the fullest and it means the world to the team members.

Team 230s lead driver, Michael Kichar, said the community support has been an important instrument in the Gaelhawks success.

Being supported by the community allows us to do what we do, said Kichar. Without all of our sponsors or help from mentors, we wouldnt be able to build a robot as well as we do.

Kichar said being the teams driver can put a lot of pressure on him at times, but his teammates support makes all the difference.

Sometimes its as simple as doing exactly what youve spent hours practicing out of competition for the past few weeks. Other times its not, said Kichar. As long as you have your team behind you to support you, its a pretty easy job.

Earning the opportunity

The chance to travel to a different state for the opportunity to be crowned one of the worlds best robotics teams has been exciting for the Gaelhawks, but theyre maintaining their composure and taking it a step at a time.

One of the teams members in charge of social media and public outreach, Lusitania Gallahar, said this is her first year on a robotics team, and she was surprised to see the dedication of the Gaelhawks.

Just the fact that we have the opportunity to share our robot on an international scale is amazing, said Gallahar. I didnt know the hours were so long, but when I saw the rest of the team putting in the time and showing up, I was just amazed and started putting in the work, too.

Ravishankar explained that the teams work is divided into much more than just building the robot.

The building is the toughest part, but its not the only part, said Ravishankar. Its such a team effort and ecompasses so many different skills throughout the entire competition.

Team 230s season began with a six-week building period that consisted of team build sessions every weekday from 7 to 10 p.m. On weekends the sessions would last from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.

For some team members, that was their favorite part of the season.

My favorite part is working side by side with professionals that have done this for so many years, said Ravishankar. Were really thankful for the support weve received from all of our supporters, but especially our mentors, because their assistance will help us as we pursue futures in robotics or engineering.

Building a sense of community

Despite the sometimes high level of competition and intensity, the Gaelhawks said, theyve worked hard to build a sense of community, not only among themselves but with their opponents as well.

You have one of our biggest competition, which is a team from Southington, theyll come in and help. Or theres another team called the Techno-tics, and theyll come in and help. Its all about gracious professionalism, said Ravishankar while describing how a team could end up helping a team its competing against. Its not only about demonstrating sportsmanship on the field but also establishing that sense of community while out of competition.

The Gaelhawks also said they work closely and have actually opened up their workspace to the SIStematics to help build that sense of community among the students who will be at their level in years to come.

As soon as youre on a team, youre a part of the team, said one of the teams captains, Josh Wilson. To watch the international competition live, go to https://www.firstchampionship.org/watch-live.

Read the original:

SHS robotics team advances to international championship - Shelton Herald

Littleton s Zach Miller turns a rotor at the FIRST Robotics Competition New England District Championships earlier this month.

LITTLETON -- When a group of high-school students in Littleton formed a robotics team last summer, expectations were contained for their first-ever competitive season. The members were new to the field, they did not have any test equipment to lean on from previous years, and failure was part of the process.

But just a few weeks after Littleton's Mechanical Advantage 6328 started its season in the FIRST Robotics Competition, the team has become one of the best in New England. After qualifying for this month's world championships, the group now has a shot at success on the global stage.

Sreenidhi Chalimadugu, a Littleton High School sophomore on the team, described the experience as "overwhelming."

"I personally never thought of even making it this far," she said. "We've all learned so much in such a short period of time, whether it's mechanical aspects of the robot or team-building skills involved. It's just a great experience and it's really surreal, too, to make it this far and come to worlds."

It became clear early on that the team had potential. In its first event, Mechanical Advantage finished fifth out of 39 teams, and it compiled enough points -- awarded for how successful its robot was in parts of the game such as transporting gears and firing wiffle balls into a large container -- over the season to qualify for the playoffs.

Mechanical Advantage made it to the quarterfinals of the New England District Championships.

Along the way, the team won the New England District "Rookie All Star" award, which also would have landed a spot at worlds had the team not already qualified by ranking.

"One of the things we all have in common is our love for what we do here," Chalimadugu said. "Being a part of that success is something we've all been lucky to go through.

Members of Littleton High School s Mechanical Advantage 6328 robotics team, right, compete in last month s FIRST Robotics Competition. PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRIAN MILLER

The team's "determination" has been the key to its success, according to 21-year-old Deanna Clark, one of the group's two mentors. Members gathered almost every day since kickoff in January to plan and build their robot. Most devoted a minimum of 30 hours per week, and before competitions, some would even stay until 2 a.m. fine-tuning details.

Clark recalled one anecdote that she described as the "essence of (the) team": in a match at district championships, the robot got a ball stuck in one of its pieces. Members drove the robot into the wall to try and jar the ball loose, but in the process, they sheared a key piece of the robot's interior.

The mentors and students frantically took the apparatus apart, but time until their next match continued to slip away. With seconds to go, Zac Temple, the other mentor, ordered his team to begin driving the robot to the arena with his hands still inside of it tightening screws.

After almost missing the entire match with a broken robot, Mechanical Advantage managed to pull out a victory. Most team members cried with joy, Clark said.

"I think that just really shows our team and what we're about," she said. "Most teams probably would have just said, 'oh, it's broken, we can't get to the match.' But we were getting to that match."

For Clark, success is an important part of helping the team grow its roots in Littleton.

"When your team doesn't do well, it's not fun, and you don't want to come back," she said. "It's really critical in the first year to be successful."

The team is still meeting several times per week to prepare for worlds and to perfect their strategies. They are also working to raise funds to support the trip to St. Louis. Those interested in donating can do so at littletonrobotics.org/donate.

Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisLisinski.

Read more from the original source:

Robotics team creates Mechanical Advantage - Lowell Sun

April 14, 2017

Editor's note:Click here to read how one of Professor Tom Sugar's robotics creations did on the trail as a hiker puts it to the test.

Robots dont have to be our mortal enemy. In fact, some are designed to enhance human life, like helping overcome disabilities or helping humans perform their jobs. ASU Professor Tom Sugar demonstrates his exoskeleton device in the lab. Download Full Image

Tom Sugar, a professor in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASUs Polytechnic Campus, believes robots can improve the human condition. He has developed robotic prosthetics that help people lead normal lives, he has developed systems to cool a soldier and he is working on systems that can help humans perform their jobs.

The reason for the latter is not to take the job away, but to help the human work. For example, a warehouse worker can walk up to 18 miles per day just in doing his or her job, Sugar said. He has developed a device that could help that person.

On April 1921, a large number of exoskeleton enthusiasts those from industry, academia and government who are developing and marketing robotics you wear will get together in Phoenix to talk about and show off some of their latest devices at WearRAcon17.

Industry has talked to us about improving the quality of work, which can mean reducing fatigue or helping you work faster, but it can also mean reducing health-care costs, Sugar said. People are getting foot, shoulder or hip injuries by doing specific, repetitive tasks. If we can meld the ability of the human to make judgments, and change and solve problems, but then working directly with the machine to lift things and move things, we are making them more successful, more happy.

One exoskeleton coming out of Sugars labs can help that warehouse worker beat fatigue. It is a lightweight (6.5 pounds total, including battery) device that you put on your back and strap to your legs.

It works by giving you a push at the right time, Sugar explained. On your hips they assist the leg to go up into the air, and when your foot is on the ground they assist your leg pushing back to propel you forward. It reduces metabolic cost and fatigue. Most of the time, people walk 5 to 10 percent faster with the device.

The beauty of the device is that even though it is strapped to you, it is not cumbersome.

You dont really notice it until you take it off; then you think, Im missing something, Sugar said. Thats when you know youve got it right.

WearRAcon17 will run from April 19 to 21 at the Hyatt Regency in Phoenix. Sugar and Joseph Hitt, of the Wearable Robotics Association, will host the show, and Sugar will make a presentation there as well.

Continue reading here:

ASU's Tom Sugar explores the next step in wearable robotics - Arizona State University

Sanford Middle Schools robotics program will have three teams competing against 1,400 schools at the VEX Robotics World Championship beginning Wednesday in Kentucky after winning by a tiebreaker at the state competition.

This will be the first world championship competition for the program, which started this year, according to Robert Harlan, coach of the robotics program and a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Sanford Middle School.

Im extremely excited for them, Harlan said. Theyve got a lot of drive and a lot of passion as far as coming for two and half hours, just about most of them are here every day.

Harlan is not new to competing in robotics competitions. He took teams from another school the last three years in a row.

After taking on a teaching position at Sanford Middle School, the principal asked him to start a robotics program.

The after-school program is made up of fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders.

The students, who had no prior experience with robots, were able to have two teams place first for the state in the elementary division and one team place second for the state in the middle school division. There also was a team that placed fifth for the state in the elementary division.

At the world championship, the school will have two teams competing in the elementary division and one team in the middle school division.

There are four students per team. In each individual match, two kids compete and rotate throughout the competition.

The world championship will have teams from 40 different nations competing over a two-day period.

Harlan said the chief opponents his teams are focusing on are from New Zealand, Canada and Hawaii.

To prepare for the competition, Harlans teams will look at game films for other teams.

We practice and design the robots based on those ideas, Harlan said.

Competition always changing

The VEX IQ challenge for the competition changes every year.

This year, the object of the challenge is to attain the highest score by scoring orange and blue hexballs in their colored scoring zone and goals, and by parking and balancing robots on the bridge.

The robot has to get the orange balls started on the blue side, and they have to take the balls from the blue side of the field, and they will bring them to the orange side of the field to score points and then do the opposite with the blue balls, Harlan said.

Teams can score 1 to 5 points depending on where the robots are located.

The teams in the world championship also have to have written communication skills that involve keeping an engineering notebook that documents the robot designs each team has done throughout the year.

Its not just building and driving robots, Harlan said. They have to brainstorm, build, test, refine and just keep doing that throughout the year.

Harlan explained how robotics education is beneficial to students.

It fits in with the STEM initiative, Harlan said. Were a more technologically advanced society nowadays. I want the kids to be exposed to more opportunities in STEM-related fields because that is the future.

Seventh-grader Hunter Perkinson wants to go into a career in robotics or engineering.

Its very needed in the real world today, Harlan said. A lot of people are using it more.

Harlan welcomes any girls who want to participate in the schools robotics program.

I actively encourage girl participation because women are underrepresented in the STEM fields, Harlan said.

See original here:

Sanford Middle School to send three teams to VEX Robotics World Championship - Opelika Auburn News

MONROVIA>> Monrovia Highs Suitbots robotics team will count on focus and experience to help them at the FIRST (FTC) Tech Challenge World Championships in Houston on Tuesday.

This years team is mostly made up of students who have been part of the after school program for at least three years.

Monrovia Highs Droidnoughts team will also compete in Houston.

This year is the first time weve done really well in competitions; I think thats because of our focus, said Suitbots team captain and junior Eli Williams. Theres a lot of good combined experience in the team.

Another district team, the Hippie Bots from Clifton Middle School, will travel to the Netherlands to compete in the FTC Dutch Open Championships on May 19 and 20.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), is a nonprofit program designed to get children curious and involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields. Through mentor-based programs, students learn STEM skills as they build robots, while also building self-confidence, communication, leadership and life skills.

(The Netherlands invitation) is a testament to their hard work and their openness to learning, said Paul Flores, Clifton robotics coordinator and Hippiebots mentor. Each student continues to push the limits, and think outside the box. Success then tends to work itself out.

Flores said they have fine-tuned their robot over the year and had lots of great help from the Monrovia High teams. The Clifton history teacher said he is looking forward to the students experiencing a new culture.

This is an educational experience; being able to go overseas and experience things and see things and places that weve talked about in history class, said Flores.

Eighth-grader Zachary Szymkowski, said hes looking forward to impressing the Europeans.

I think its going to be cool, because well also have time to do some touring, and the competition is exciting, and scary, said fellow teammate and eighth-grader Cory Spaeth. I like the hands on building; its been fun using the tools. Our team works well together. Weve figured out our strengths and weaknesses.

After a rough start to their season last year, the Suitbots were sure to be properly prepared this year.

Advertisement

Innovation through simplicity, said Probst of the teams motto. Other teams build very intricate mechanisms for their robots that perform the same function that a similarly simple mechanism would be able to do. All our mechanisms, we reduced them to their most basic components and make sure that they function as well as, if not better than, the more complicated versions.

Journey to championship

The Suitbots earned their way to Houston after winning the Connect Award at the February Los Angeles Regional Championships, and then heading to the western Super-Regional Championships in Washington in March. The Suitbots won seven of nine competitions in Tacoma, placing them in seventh and earning them a spot in Houston.

The Droidnoughts, who also advanced through the L.A. Regional Championships, were one of 20 western teams invited to Houston, through a lottery process.

Monrovia High robotics coordinator Tom Dobson said the program is open to a lot of different kids who may not be as interested in the robotics part, but more interested in the outreach or business aspect of the program, and can contribute to a team that way.

The Hippie Bots showed strong leadership as alliance captains during the L.A. Regional Championships, making it into the quarterfinals and receiving a special invitation to the Netherlands. The Clifton team will be the only U.S. team, and will compete against high school and college student teams.

All three teams have been raising funds for their respective trips through two separate GoFundMe pages.

For the Suitbots and Droidnoughts from Monrovia High, go to http://bit.ly/2mJ3CFQ. For the Clifton Hippie Bots, go to http://bit.ly/2njYQmv.

Read the original here:

Monroiva Unified robotics teams to compete in Houston, Netherlands - The Pasadena Star-News

Both Teams Need Financial Support From the Community

Two Northland high school teams are preparing for a big competition at the end of the month a trip to World Championships.

The road to get there isnt so easy it will require a lot of money, and now two competitors are working together to make the trip of a lifetime possible for dozens of students.

The Duluth Daredevils, and the Esko Subzero teams both secured spots in the FIRST world competition in St. Louis featuring teams from more than 39 countries April 26.

Its a lot of work, some Saturdays wed be there for 8 hours, said Ian Mills of Esko Subzero. But we pushed through to the end of the season.

Its going to be a world thing not just Minnesota or regionals, the entire world will see us, said Haley Montgomery with Duluth East Daredevils.

The students say the robotics team is like no other school activity, it gives kids interested in science and engineering an outlet and a leg up for their careers and the real world.

At the competition, juniors are able to connect with colleges for future opportunities, and all students are put on a world stage.

Coaches say the fact that two Northland teams made it this far speaks a lot about the strength of the programs.

We love the fact they are growing so fast, said Daredevils Coach Tim Velner. We can go onto the field, be equally competitive.

Both teams have their own fundraising goals to afford the trip that will cost thousands. Students will foot some of the bill themselves, but theyre asking the community as a whole to help them pay for part of the costs.

Eskos fundraiser can be found here. Duluth Easts fundraiser can be found here.

Read the rest here:

Nikki's Notebook: Two Robotics Teams Advance to World ... - FOX 21 Online

Emma's story of how she gained the confidence to speak out is just one of many stories about how participating in the Knox County 4-H robotics programs has helped students gain a wide range of skills and develop the ability to think critically about the world around them.

KNOXVILLE Emma Racke found her voice.

Not bad for a 9-year-old enrolled in the fourth grade at Mabel Woolsey Elementary School.

Emmas story of how she gained the confidence to speak out is just one of many stories about how participating in the Knox County 4-H robotics programs has helped students gain a wide range of skills and develop the ability to think critically about the world around them.

The teams RoboStorm for the junior high students and Techno Bullets for the high school kids are part of program run by Knox County 4-H and supported by Knoxville District 202. Some financial support comes from Caterpillar Inc.

The RoboStorm team finished third out of 64 teams in the Robotics State Tournament earlier this year in Champaign. In July, the team is headed to the Mountain State First Lego League Invitational Tournament in Fairmont, West Virginia.

The Techno Bullets finished seventh in the 36-team state tournament in Elgin. That competition narrowed from a field of 168.

RoboStorm has nine team members, while the Techno Bullets roster also numbers nine.

Julian Inniss, the 4-H and youth development coordinator at the Knox County University of Illinois Extension, heads up the robotics program.

Robotics is great way to introduce students to engineering and design, Julian said. The students built their robots. They program the robots. And they run them in competitions.

But thats just the start. Problem-solving and team work are a huge part of the robotics teams. Problem-solving requires critical thinking. And within the team concept, problem-solving requires communication. Robotics offers students a chance to work on a lot of skills.

Emma started in the programs First Lego League a pre-RoboStorm program designed for young grade-school students. Moving up to RoboStorm was just natural.

I was in the second grade when I started in the First Lego League, Emma said. I loved playing Legos and decided I wanted to keep up with and move up to the competitions.

The now-9-year-old discovered she was learning much more along the way.

There is so much to learn, so much to experience, she said. Its very challenging and the challenges we face in robotics help us with some of the challenges we face.

Like in school. Sometimes I was afraid to speak out in class. Or with public speaking when I was younger I had a little bit of stage fright. With RoboStorm, I learned about how to speak in public and speak out.

Jolene Parrish is one of the RoboStorm coaches and has two children 12-year-old Mitchell and 13-year-old Alexandra in the robotics program.

Alexandra has been in the robotics program for four years three years with the junior high team and one year with the high schoolers, Jolene said. Alexandra was a very quiet, very shy, kid. Ive watched her blossom into a very outgoing, much more confident kid.

Alexandra who goes by Alex in school and with her friends on the Techno Bullets backed up her mothers words. The 13-year-old said robotics have helped her enhance technical skills taking accurate measurements, making calculations as well as developing skills like writing.

We have to keep a notebook and a log, Alex explained. You learn how to document in detail design, program, participation. All of it is stuff you can use outside of our team.

Kendra and Mike Betz coach the high school-age Techno Bullets team and have been in the program for seven years first with 15-year-old Jacob and then with 13-year-old Justin. The husband-and-wife coaches said the robotics program like any athletic team or activity builds teamwork and communication skills, and often mirrors the real-world workplace challenges most students will face when they go into jobs.

Theres the idea of core values. And those values include teamwork and the value of effective communication, Mike said. There are engineering challenges. Those challenges are part of the competition.

But the competitions also ask team members to brainstorm, problem-solve, communicate to each other and make a presentation to the judges. Thats a wide range of skills needed to compete.

Kendra offered a kind of summary.

The kids learn pretty quickly that not every idea works but you have to keep trying and keep working at it, she said. You really learn teamwork. And the kids are introduced to a concept: gracious professionalism.

That concept made quite an impression on 15-year-old Jacob. He said the values hes learned in robotics competition will be held close for the rest of his life.

Gracious professionalism is a concept a lot of people should live by, Jacob said. Its about being fair with others even the people you compete against.

Its about working as a team and recognizing everyone has a skill or talent that help a team. Everyone can contribute. And its about realizing that you might not always succeed, but you have to keep working. Here you just learn a lot of things you dont learn in school.

Tom Loewy: (309) 343-7181, ext. 256; tloewy@register-mail.com; @tomloewy

Read more:

Kids learn variety of skill through 4-H robotics - Galesburg Register-Mail

The Robo Rays are a STEM-focused robotics team atSeacrest Country Day School who took first at the Orlando regional competition and are bringing their robot-building skills and teamwork this week to the World Championship competition in Texas.

The FIRST robotics competition (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) challenges students interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) to design and test robots to accomplished a wide range of goals. This year, the team had to design a robot that could shoot objects at targets and also climb a rope.

After building their best 'bot, the teams gather to competeand cooperatein head-to-head matches that can see as many as six robots on the playing field trying to out-maneuvertheir robotic opponents.

Monday at 1:30 p.m. on Gulf Coast Live,Seacrest Country Day School math teacher andRobo Rays coach Marc Berry joins the program to talk about the robot and programming skills, as well as teamwork, that go into a successful FRC competition.

Also joining the program are seniors from the Robo Rays team, including Safety Captain Timothy Bui and Build Captain/driver William LaFreniere, to discuss the process of building and testing these robots and the anticipation ahead of the world championships in Texas.

More here:

Naples Robotics Team Brings STEM Prowess to Texas World Championship - WGCU News

The FIRST Tech Challenge team number 10615, the Jefferson CyDogs, of Jefferson Middle School, recently demonstrated its robot to a host of engineers and scientists at the XALT Energy, LLC Midland Battery Plant.

The team also toured the facility, which included going into the class 1,000 clean rooms where the battery cells are produced. According to Richard Cundiff, CEO of XALT Energy, they were the youngest group to ever tour the plant.

Participants included Robert Roe, who said going through the five-person air shower was his favorite part. Liz Fowler enjoyed learning about the manufacturing processes while Casey Lambert appreciated the in-depth, exclusive tour of the facility and XALTs support of the team.

The students were also given the opportunity to start a certain manufacturing process, see robots in action and build batteries out of common household items including lemons, potatoes and pennies.

Each group measured the performance of their homemade battery and learned that a single XALT lithium ion battery is equivalent 1.6 million potato batteries.

The Jefferson CyDogs appreciated how much time the XALT employees dedicated to this event.

XALT Energy was so impressed with these young scientists and engineers that it made a $1,000 donation to their program. The Jefferson CyDog team will use this money to build a second robot and its controls. The new system will enable the team to be more efficient in developing, programming and testing its creation.

FIRST is a nonprofit organization devoted to helping young people discover and develop a passion for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

For more information on FIRST programs in the area or to become involved with a team, contact the FTC Team 10615 - Jefferson CyDogs at ftc10615@gmail.com

Originally posted here:

Jefferson robotics team visits XALT Energy - Midland Daily News