HSGC K-12 Program

Classroom Competition

Preparation

Prior to introducing the classroom competition, the Teacher should prepare and introduce the chosen robotics platform kits to the students. Teacher will group students in groups of 2-3.

It is recommended that students create an inventory of their kit in their notebook. Students should label the parts and quantity. This will allow students to recognize parts by their appropriate name and the function of the part.

Example VEX IQ Inventory

VEX IQ Gen 1 Kit Inventory SAMPLE

Have students build a sample claw robot or sample robot using instructions provided by the kit.

Classroom Competition: Find your Color!

Competition Materials:

Robot Field Competition Area (about 4'x4')
Using painter's tape, mark off zone markings with a horizontal line approximately 18" from the wall (see field picture)
At least 14 balls or small objects of two different colors

Setup:

Balls or objects start in the middle of the field
Two Robots start on opposite ends touching the wall

Rules:

In one-minute matches, robots must collect their respective color balls or objects and bring them back to their area
Drivers switch at the 30-second mark
At the end of the match, the number of total balls for each team is counted
The team that collected the most number of balls is the winning team.
Matches can be played as many times against different opponent groups
Teams will receive ranking points

Ranking Points

Win = 2 points
Tie = 1 point
Loss = 0 point

Engineering Design Process

Identify the Problem

Have students in their groups come up with 3 strategies to score the most number of points and document in their notebook
How do you plan to manipulate or collect the objects?

Explore and Design

Students can research other robot ideas that match their criteria and document ideas in their notebook
Students will use their research and sketch out a design for their robot, labeling parts

Create, Try it Out, and Make it Better

Students will build prototypes of their robot design and test it out while documenting test results in their notebook
Students will also document changes they make to their robot design
With the final design, students will sketch out the final design and label the drawing

Assessment: Design Presentations and Competition

Have all groups present their informal presentations about their robot.
Randomize match pairings
Begin the matches and teacher may decide how many matches to run
- Recommend to run at least 3 matches per team
At the end, tally up the ranking poitns based on W, T, L

Rubric

Homework: Make it Better

Have students answer the following questions in their notebook:

What went well in the competition?
What didn't go well?
What would you improve to your robot if you had more time?

Optional Extension

Have students compete in a 2nd round of competition after making improvements to their robots.

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