For a group
of bright young men in Palmyra, robotics is like a varsity sport for the mind.
They enjoy building a robot, testing it, then competing with it against
25-thousand like-minded students from around the world.
The recently
formed seven member team is called "Imagine It," And they've already
earned a shot at a world robotics title by taking top honors last month at
regional competition in Delaware. At twice-a- week work sessions, the team
practices maneuvering the robot inside a 12 feet by 12 feet arena, using both
pre-programmed and driver-controlled modes. During today's pre-programmed run
through, the 16-inch high combination of gears, motors and sensors did not want
to cooperate, preferring to spin in place. But that's okay. Correcting those
kinds of problems is how these young people hone their scientific and
engineering skills.
Normally,
the team would iron out that problem before moving on. But, for our visit, they
switched their robot to remote control mode.
Within a
2-minute time limit, the robot captured several plastic rings and hung them on
a grid of pipes, much in the fashion of tic tac toe. Overseeing all this
planning and practicing is team mentor, Brian Hibshman.
"I'm
just trying to guide these guys," said Hibshman. "I help bring order
out of the chaos. With lots of different ideas and opinions."
As for the
team members themselves, there are rewards for their hard work that go beyond
competitions.
17-year-old
future robotics engineer, Daniel Schwab, is all for the team approach to
learning and competing. "The friendship and fellowship of being on a team,
working with other people, to do something like this, there's something that
you can get out of that, that you can't really get out of working on your own
at home," he said.
