New Semester at Copley High School

by | Jan 29, 2020 | Educational Dobot, In-Position Technologies, STEM

Engineering & Technology Dept. Head at Copley High School, Kirby Harder is starting the year with new students who will be working with the Dobot Magicians in his engineering class. Kirby has shared more updates with our team on the progress of his robotic training course and news that includes preparation for an upcoming Robotic Competition.

New semester new students / classes, engineering 3 advanced techniques and technologies. The advanced technology this year is the Dobot Magician. This is new to these students because we have never had the opportunity to work with robots in the past. This class is small and each student will be working with their own robot. This is different from last semester’s work where students worked as a team. I am curious to see if there is a difference in overall understanding at the end of all the lessons. Since this is my second time through the workbook, I know what to expect and where the students had problems. Here are the things that I emphasized;

• Always home the robot before you start your project.
• Any time that the Dobot is bumped or hits its limits, it is necessary to rehome the Robot
• When working the Axis Joints table, pretend the robot is facing away from you.
• I printed a CIM “A to K” Grid Sheet (p.20) for the Record and Teach. Seeing the points helped the students make the connection.
• Make sure to Label points for troubleshooting in the programming (Sure helps your instructor.)

My students and I are planning to compete in the 2020 National Robotics Challenge in April using the DoBot Magician.

The team decided to do the Manufacturing Work Cell portion of the Robotics Challenge. We are still figuring out the best approach but so far, we have begun to develop a strategy:

• Grab Blank Cube (Raw Materials)
• Laser Engrave 6 Dots
• Move and Engrave 5 Dots
• Move and Engrave 6…..1
• Stack complete cubes (Figure out something to do with final products.)

The photos provided by Kirby above, show the initial steps of the strategy development for the 2020 NRC Contest. Stay tuned for additional updates from Kirby as they prepare for the upcoming challenge in April. Best of luck to you and your students, Kirby!