Robotics 1.5
TPSF Summer Academy -- Week 3
Week 3
We started the week racing our speed race car roller coaster cars! They did an incredible job working with gear trains and aerodynamics in their designs. It was so much fun racing them in the quad outside!
The rest of this week has been spent on our biggest project yet! Your kids are designing rides from scratch. They were given the task to incorporate VEX parts and mechanisms with paper roller coaster components. I am loving all of the things they are coming up with. We have some truly elaborate designs coming along!
I can't believe we are heading into week 4 already! Next week we will have our showcase in the OH gym. It is on Thursday, July 20 at 11:30. All of the robotics programs will be together showcasing the amazing things we've done this summer! I hope everyone can make it.
Best,
Megan Englebrecht
Robotics Fun!
Race Car Roller Coaster
Students built a thrill ride! The roller coaster is on flat track that is a 20 foot distance. They needed to create the roller coaster passenger car that can cross a 20 ft distance in the least amount of time possible. The fastest design created by team of engineers will be used for the roller coaster design.
Criteria and Constraints:
Design a robot that will optimize drive train acceleration in a 20 ft distance using no more than two motors.
If the robot is geared too fast, it will accelerate slowly which will cost it time. (There is a balance between acceleration and top-speed which each team must find).
Experiment with the different tires and gears available.
Ryhan and Dillon
Nikhil, Anselm, and Danny
Saahil and Stephen
Joshua and Collin
Tony and Siho
Joshua and Anderson
Ayla and Mel
Ashley and Erin!
Getting Ready to Race!
Design a Ride
Your amusement park is almost complete! This is the ultimate test as an amusement park designer, can you create your own ride using a combination of vex parts and paper/poster? Your mission is to design a ride of your choice that uses elements of vex (think a slope, a lift, a spin, a pulley, etc). that will connect to the "paper" portion of your ride. The ride should be your biggest and most fun attraction at the park! Your riders will be a marble or ping pong ball (your choice).
Criteria and Constraints:
-Your ride should be at least 30 seconds long(challenge yourself).
-You have 2 days of class to complete the ride (about 8 hours...challenge yourself but be reasonable about what you can get done in class).
-You must be able to carry a ping pong ball or marble through the entire course without having to "push/touch" the rider along the path
-Has to use VEX and Paper components in the ride.
Hard at work on our rides!
Looking ahead to next week...
- We will show off our amazing rides that the kids have been hard at work on! Next week's newsletter will include videos and pictures of the amazing creations!
- We will work on our robots that we will be sharing with you at the Showcase!
- Showcase is on Thursday 7/20 at 11:30 in the Orcahrd Hills Gym. I hope all of you can make it to see what we have planned for you!