Feature ArticleFebruary 27, 2002
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SLHS team wins Lego Robotics Challengeby David BrisonBrad Bertrim, Chris Carpenter, Josh Goodfellow, and Jason Veley, students in Mark Elliots computer science courses, teamed up to win The Limestone Boards Lego robotics contest at Sydenham on Friday February 22. They defeated three teams from KCVI in Kingston.
The team was presented with a task, unknown prior to the event, when
they arrived in Sydenham. They were given three hours to build their
robot out of Lego materials, and develop the software so that it could
be programmed by a computer.
The robots task was to clear a square metre area of ten filled pop cans within four minutes. The team cleared three cans on their first trial, and this was enough for them to win the contest, as the best the KCVI teams could do was two cans. However, on their third trial, which was watched by everyone present, they cleared all ten cans within three minutes. They evidently got a standing ovation and praise from the judges for this performance.
Mike Eveleigh, guidance counsellor and head of the computer department, took the students to Sydenham and observed the team while they were building and programming the robot. It was truly a collaborative effort. They worked together to identify engineering problems and jointly worked out solutions it was very impressive, he said.
The boys also collaborated in telling their story when they were interviewed by The News. One would start a sentence and another would finish it; they expanded on each others ideas. They felt that there were several key ideas that contributed to their success. They quickly realized that the robot would not have enough traction to push a full pop can if it was upright. This led to a string across the front of the plough, which would knock the cans over so they could be pushed. Another key to their success was that Brad Bertrim, who did most of the programming, designed the software so that the robot would push for two seconds, then back up and push again this prevented the robot from just spinning wheels, or worse, like one of their competitors, burning out. Another key idea was to tilt the robot so that the weight was over the front wheels for maximum traction.
There were a large number of other design factors which contributed to their success: an inserted block maintained the plough at the right height; a system of elastic bands which kept the right tension on the plough; and two little gadgets which stopped the robot from getting stuck on the rim of the area.
The team members all are taking computer courses with teacher Mark Elliot at the Computer Technology Development Centre in the Retail Centre on Highway # 7 in Sharbot Lake. They also work refurbishing computers on a cooperative education credit at the Centre.
SLHS bought the computer Lego kits with a $3,500 grant from the Limestone Learning foundation. These kits enable students to start with simple engineering ideas and proceed to very complex engineering problems. Mike Eveleigh, who was responsible for getting the grant, explained that the robotics programs and materials will be incorporated into tech and computer courses from grade 9 to senior courses.
The
young men did a partial demonstration of the robot to me. It knocked
down the cans and pushed them forward.
Even after it was explained to me, I found it amazing that the
robot was programmed to push the cans until they were out of the area,
then back up and turn at approximately a 35 degree angle, and keep
doing that until all ten cans were pushed out in less than three
minutes no less! Congratulations to the team and their teachers!
