Under the direction of Coach Shaw, members of the Robotics Club have an opportunity to learn teamwork, engineering, programming, problem solving, and critical thinking skills all while having fun! Students learn important STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) concepts that can help them throughout their academic and professional careers. Club members will use LEGO® MINDSTORMS® and other robotics tools to build robots and machines, program them to perform specific tasks, troubleshoot problems, and refine their strategies to address practical challenges.
Beginners start with the basics using tutorials and our special curriculum. They learn sound construction methods, programming and become familiar with the various components of the MINDSTORMS system. Once they have mastered the essential concepts, they'll discover increasingly sophisticated designs by building robots to complete a number of project-oriented tasks, each designed to improve their programming and engineering skills. Sometimes each group will work on particular projects such as animal themed robots or our ever popular battlebots challenge while at other times the entire club will be engaged in a higher level challenge. Some of the activities encourage participation by parents.
We organize the kids into small groups based on age and experience. Each group chooses the challenges they wish to pursue. They will engage in other related activities to build teamwork and allow them to interact outside of their immediate groups. Parents are welcome to stay to help out during meetings. Periodically, we will engage in group projects that everyone participates in.
