VEX Robotics Field Day Workshop
On the recent Field Day, several boys, in addition to Mr Tang and Mr Reid, travelled to two primary schools to run a VEX Go Robotics workshop for Year 4 students. VEX Go is a robotics platform for primary school students, allowing them to build using plastic snap-together parts and code it with block-based programming.
writes Aviral A. (Divs):
After severe difficulties loading a wooden crate into a minibus, we set off for our first destination: Warren Dell Primary School. Once there, we ran the first workshop, where students formed into 10 teams, and had to use a combination of instructions and Mr Reid’s brilliant explanations to build a claw attachment on top an existing “basebot”, a basic robot consisting of a brain, battery and driveable base. The students then had to drive the complete robot, using the VEX website for a virtual controller. The workshop culminated in a tournament, where the teams had 1 minute and 30 seconds "driving" the robot to complete various Mars themed tasks in order to score points. The goal was to remove “samples” from a “crater” and return them to the “lab”. After a quick lunch break, we then travelled to the next school, Oxhey Wood Primary School (fortunately with no loading issues this time). We then repeated the workshop with another group of Year 4 students, before returning to school.
Though the day was not without its hiccups, it was overall a memorable experience, and it was wonderful to see the students competing and enjoying a taste of robotics. We hope that it develops their interest in the field of STEM!
