13 Feb 2008 - Year 5 and 6 take up Robotics

Year 5 and 6 tried their hand at a spot of Robotics Engineering today, taking part in a special, day-long, workshop.

The skills demostrated by the children were truely impressive, ranging from Teamwork and communication to Computer Aided Design and Programming.

The children first needed to construct their robot, following complex 3D plans, created for them on a Laptop presentation.

This required careful construction skills and lots of talking as a team to ensure that every nut and bolt was in the right place.

As well as the robot's shell, the control unit and motors had to be installed. Complicated stuff - but something the children took in their stride.

Once the basic robot had been built, it needed adapting for the specific problem the team had to solve.

Mechanical arms were constructed, shovels added and extra wheels strapped on. Each team's challenge was slightly different and their robots would only succeed with careful changes.

Finally the children needed to write a computer programme to make the robot come to life.

Then it was a case of positioning the robot on the giant model, challenge board and see whether all that planning had worked.

Few succeeded first time, but many tweaks later and the children had built and programmed a fully working robot - and that is pretty impressive in anyone's book!

Thank you to Mr Charlesworth, Mrs Daone and Mrs Gregory for organising a spectacular day!