Robotics

(LEGO Robot left, Mr. Stillwell right)

Can you make a robot dance and sing? If you can't, come to ECMS. We can! Our robotics team studies hard and is full of hardworking members. In the 2005-2006 Oceanology FLL (First Lego League) Competition ECMS's robot placed 10th in state. Overall the team did not place in top 10, but the robot did. The team is headed by Mr. Stillwell. (See above right.)

But it's not as easy as just bringing in a robot. Members have to work on their robot for about 3 months. They work hard and try their best. This competition is very competitive. They must build a working stable robot with LEGOs. Then they have to attatch sensors where they are most useful. Finally they need to program the robot.

The LEGO robot has motors, sensors, and an RCX. The motors are 9 volt actual motors and can run at 5 different levels. There are many kinds of sensors, and the robotics team only has a few, but the robotics team does have light, touch, and rotation sensors. Some other sensors that are available are temperature, air pressure, and motion sensors. There are many more and you can find them at the website link below. The motors and sensors are actually controlled by the RCX. The RCX is a mini computer that sits inside a robot. It does have buttons to start the robot, but its main function is that it's programmable. So the people on the robotics team need to know how to build, adjust, and program these robots.

So for singing and dancing, piece of cake!

Find out more at the First Lego League Website

(computer used for programming)