How do you teach two classes of rookies to build a robot in one fall pre-season? COVID-19 restrictions kept us from having full robot-build sessions in the 2021 school year. We needed to figure out a build challenge that would get everyone up to speed. Our answer, Cargo Collaboration! Using scrap parts, three teams of sophomores and juniors each built a robot to the specifications of a modified version of the 2014 game Aerial Assist. This learning experience has given them a preview into the 2022 build season. The rookies feel more integrated into 1816 and they know their way around the workshop. They have a newfound appreciation for the time and energy it takes to design, code, and build with pneumatics. On November 1st we invited families and friends to join us in celebrating these teams’ progress throughout the past four months. Each team showcased their robot and responded to questions about their design and decision process. There were great cheers each time the robot tossed the ball across the room! All in all, it was a success!
-Venna W.