Currently ranked 20th in the world, the Barker Redbacks took out the regional title at the New York City FIRST Robotics competition and were awarded the Chairman’s Award for their worldwide contribution to robotics. The only Australian team to compete at the inaugural Shenzhen Regional FRC Competition in China, the team took first place there. In addition to this title, the team bagged the Innovation in Control Award and the Excellence in Engineering Award. They competed in the South Pacific Regional against 43 teams; they won that too. They were awarded their second Excellence in Engineering Award.
Simple beginnings
Needless to say, they relented, and when a robotics coordinator was sought, Mr Grant had the skillset to fit: “I teach computer programming and I had been playing with Arduinos and doing hardware control so I had enough technical understanding for the job.”
“And I like building things…” he conceded. The program is a co-curricular elective with 35 students currently enrolled from years nine to 12, and despite their achievements, Mr Grant emphasised that they didn’t start out as experts. They formed their Barker Redbacks team in 2013 and entered ‘Duel Down Under’. Their robot was simple: “literally a drive base and a net on top.”
“For those who are starting out, the Vex Robotics competition is ideal. We will be hosting it in Sydney and the robots are much simpler.” Mr Grant suggests this level is a good introduction to robotics and urged people to contact him for help and advice on getting started.
Competition structure and rules
Secrets to their 2017 success?
“Last year, we built a great robot, but it was unreliable. This year we put in place a very strong off season training program,” said Mr Grant. While no extra preparatory work is allowed on the competing robot prior to the build phase, only practice makes perfect.
They also gave the programming sub-team more time: “The competition involves 15 seconds of autonomous operation; these routines must be programmed. Handing over to the programming team early – before week four – made a significant impact.”
The students have mentors but the ideas must be theirs: “Each sub-team has a mentor, but the students are ultimately responsible for each decision. The role of the mentor is to offer coaching when it is apparent that they need more understanding than they have.”
He says students make “incredible sacrifices” to participate: “The schedule is hectic from January to late May, with five hours a day on robotics. They plan ahead with their parents to ensure holidays don’t clash with the robotics season; they are liaising with teachers to manage assessment schedules.”
So how much of Lael Grant’s time does this level of achievement commandeer? That question elected a hearty laugh
and two words: “a lot.” He says the six-week build period starts early January, (cutting short school holidays), then it’s evenings, weekends, and late nights.
“It’s a lot, but it’s incredibly rewarding to witness the growth in students – it builds their capacity, understanding, and depth of technical knowledge.” He says it requires high levels of motivation, and students learn to be collaborative operators: “We spend a lot of time encouraging students to communicate effectively in high pressure situations.”
The Federal Government has announced new school infrastructure funding, but should more be done to…
Sexting has become ordinary practice for the majority of teens. Should we be teaching them…
Educators may be surprised at one of the findings of a national research project into…
There is so much to see and do in Sydney, with many educational opportunities available…
Sarah Drysdale from Commbox discusses AI and cyber security innovations in 2024 for the education…
A pilot program co-funded by the QLD and federal governments will aim to ease teacher…
This website uses cookies.