Outreach
Giving Back to Our Community
Evergreen Robotics
Our team members are part of the coaching team for the Evergreen Middle School Robotics Club. We organized and taught an eight-week robotics course for newcomers and returning teams in VEX IQ, covering topics spanning from engineering notebook writing and building to programming and tournament strategy/function.
Although we had planned to teach before COVID-19 hit our area, with one of our team members teaching the course to a smaller scale on her own the previous year, we shifted our format to better fit the online environment, as we've been teaching through online Zoom meetings. To make classes more engaging, because of the impracticality of teaching with physical parts through online meetings, and to accommodate for students who might not have robotics parts at home, we use online software for lab-based classes, in VEXcode VR, a coding studio to program a virtual robot, and SnapCAD, a Computer Aided Design software specific to VEX IQ. We also create Kahoot quizzes at the end of lecture classes, and have implemented a reward system in which teams who participate, do homework, or win at Kahoots in class can earn points towards RobotMesh gift card prizes.
VEXcode
We taught those students how to code using the programming software VEXcode VR.
Maze Challenge
And had them complete online challenges, like this maze above, during one of the sessions.
As we were unable to hold out sessions in person this year, we weren't able to demonstrate design and build with actual IQ pieces. But, we taught them how to model their designs using SnapCAD, a Computer Aided Design software. During the first CAD session, we had them model different gear ratios, and in the later sessions, had them model some simple robot sub-systems.
