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Robotics competition kit, members of the FIS Robotics team will have to learn about the machine’s more advanced sensors, controllers and motors to figure out how to build and program the robot for the competition.
Students in all grade levels practice the tenets of computational thinking: algorithmic thinking, decomposition, abstraction and pattern recognition.
During each match, students will be required to program a robot that can autonomously navigate a playing field past obstacles to find the correct location to drop an item. The robot must do this on its own, relying on its sensor data and pro- grammed algorithms to make decisions. There will also be a two-minute game period where two students from each team control the robot to pick up various items and place them in designated spots.
“It is impossible to design the robot to do everything so there is a lot of strategy involved,” says Mr. Anderson. “The students must decide which tasks they think they can accomplish
and design the robot to do them as efficiently as possible.”
FIS aims to develop a robust robotics team in the upper grades to compete in global challenges. Lending support to that goal is the experience
of computational thinking – the process of identifying, solving and communicating problems as well as representing solutions to be carried out by humans and machines – that is taking place throughout the entire school. Students in all grade levels practice the tenets of computational thinking: algorithmic thinking, decomposition, abstraction and pattern recognition. Implicitly, students develop leadership, communication, collaboration and creative problem-solving skills.
“We have very young students in Pre-primary using algorithms to solve problems when coding with Bee-Bots – small robots that they can program to learn about directionality, planning, sequencing, counting and teamwork,” says Ms. Pratt.
Robotics and computational thinking help take the school’s future-oriented initiatives – technology infused and not – where they need to go: practicing and learning what it takes to adapt, understand, change, rescue, legislate and manage a world that brings out the best in us all, reflects our creations, and where we can all grow and thrive.
Maria Monteiro FIS Parent
An EV3 robot stands at attention in the FIS design and technology lab
Interested in helping the Robotics Club win the FIRST Tech Challenge on 23 March?
Come to room 276 on Fridays from 15:30–16:30 and help our team.
Contact vafa_anderson@fis.edu for more information.
Learn more about the FIRST Tech Challenge at www.firstinspires.org.
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