Robotics Team is back in gear
Three feet forward. Turn to the left. Avoid obstacles. Stay in line. Grasp the object. Win. In the past, students on the Cedar Shoals robotics team have intricately designed and programmed robots to give them life, participating in competitions where the goal is to guide their robot through obstacles and move it in particular sequences. Recruitment has proven difficult in the past few years, but teachers at Cedar Shoals are ready to revive the team.
“There’s a chance to still get involved this year. I would love to (restart the program) even if we don’t compete officially,” club sponsor and auto mechanics teacher Dave Darden said.
In a typical robotics competition, two drivers control their creation on the 12×12 “challenge field.” They move the robot to specific areas and gain points by completing tasks like grabbing objects with the mechanical arm. Separately, other team members present their build process to judges with detailed posterboards.
“You meet all these other schools, you see the quality of (their) robots, and it pushes you to want to improve your robot which means you have to learn more,” Jackie Elder, science department, said.
Naturally, before the competition comes the building. In years past, teacher sponsors Darden and Elder have supervised and learned alongside students about the processes of robot construction and block programming.
“We were all helping each other and we finally figured it out,” Elder said. “It was almost like the blind leading the blind because I didn’t know any of the programming.”
Sponsor of the SkillsUSA, Hot Rodders, and Robotics clubs, Darden is no stranger to the inner workings of machines and group organization. His work with the robotics team goes back eight years, almost as long as his 13 year career at Cedar Shoals.
“No one was running the robotics team to my knowledge before I started,” Darden said.
While Darden helped assemble the physical structures of the robots, Elder assisted with the science and programming behind them. Her physics background played a key role in the design of the machine, as well as her open mindset to learning the programming.
“Miss Elder or I would be the coach and there’s one driver with the controller driving the robot. The other student is basically the co-pilot,” Darden said.
Unfortunately, Elder has taken on more in her work schedule this year, including biology, which has forced her to take a break from the robotics club. Luckily, after Darden reached out, one teacher was eager to take on the role.
Computer science teacher, event planner, cosmetologist, and entrepreneur, Pamela Upson has quite the resume; thankfully, she is willing to add one more item to the list. She has experience with computer technology including a career in credit card fraud analysis.
Upson is also no stranger to robotics; Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School — where she previously worked — was equipped with two robots. On top of it all, Upson is currently working on her doctorate in cybersecurity through Regent University.
Upson has a more modern approach to the team. She wants to take advantage of the new single board computer, the Raspberry Pi. She hopes to incorporate mobile devices more frequently and to practice with drones as well.
“I want to be able to use the phones to engage students and to also make it fun because you can actually download the app on your phone that goes with them (the drones),” Upson said.
In order for Upson’s efforts to be fruitful, the robotics club needs more members. Darden attributes low participation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s (COVID-19) really damaged them more than I think they realize,” Darden said.
Upson also sponsors the Girls Who Code club which provides an outlet for young girls at Cedar to learn coding. She thinks her connection to both clubs could increase participation levels.
“I want robotics and physics to come together as one and deepen our understanding of that whole world, where students are really strong in these areas before they go to college,” Elder said.
