The robotics club is an area that allows students to develop their creativity, critical thinking and problem solving skills. The club meets weekly during the entire school year, and is open to all students interested with robotics.
The robotics club serves 2 purposes. Every February, students participate in the annual Canadian Robotics Competition (https://robo-crc.ca/). Once the competition is over, the club focuses on allowing students the opportunity to experiment with the tools and programs available to them, in order to create robots that can perform any desired task.
The CRC challenges students on multiple aspects. Students have to build a robot that can accomplish a specific task(s) on the playing field with and/or against other robots. Each task requires students to plan out an optimal design, build prototypes, and come up with functional components. Teachers are available to guide them during this process. But ultimately, the project is student-focused. Experimentation, conceptualization and trial-and-error are major elements of this project.
While the robots are competing on the playing field, the CRC also incorporates other areas of interest. The programming competition requires students to create a computer program that will allow a small robot to perform specific tasks on its own, without any human input. The kiosk competition allows students to express their artistic side. Students have to pick a central theme, build a set, and create costumes/uniforms to accompany this theme. The video competition is designed for students to create a short video that showcases their theme, while explaining their robot’s capabilities. Finally, the website competition requires students to create a functional web page that will contain all relevant information about the competition and the participating school.
When the CRC is over, the robotics club meets in a more relaxed manner. Students are given the opportunity to work on new designs and/or programs, and experiment their efficiency. They can use the experience gained during the competition to improve any previous designs, or to create even better robots. The robotics club is the perfect place for students to let their imagination run wild.