Robotics

Girl Power is an all-girls design and building workshop.  The girls will learn how to design and build real-world projects using hand and power tools in CCSU’s workshop.  All the girls will learn safety and skills to guide them when using the tools.

Using teamwork, creativity, their own ideas and newly-found technical skills – each participant will be involved in building group projects and individual projects which they will take home.

Ever wonder how the Navy inspects the hulls of their nuclear submarines when in Groton during the winter? Ever wonder how scientists explore a shipwreck in waters too deep for human divers? The answer, underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROV.) Join us this summer to design, build and drive your own SeaPerch, underwater ROV. Students will build a working SeaPerch underwater ROV from scratch. They’ll refine its design and test it in CCSU’s Olympic-sized swimming pool. On Friday participants will explore the Submarine Force Museum and tour the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear submarine, the first submarine to go around the world underwater and first submarine to travel under the North Pole. At the end of the program, each student will take home their own SeaPerch ROV.

Join our Robotics VEX IQ class for a week full of exciting fun activities centered around robotics! Students will work together designing and building manually driven VEX IQ  robots in this beginner’s level session.  There will be friendly competitions during the week with the other groups in the class.  If time allows, we’ll delve into other technological projects (like straw rockets) that will enhance our problem solving and critical thinking skills.  Who knew learning could be so fun?!!

The Space Robotics Summer Program is an innovative and inspiring program for students that is truly out of this world! The two-week STEM curriculum introduces students to computer programming, robotics, and space engineering, and provides hands-on experience programming SPHERES (Synchronized, Position, Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites). The program culminates in a tournament where winning teams’ SPHERES compete aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Participants will get to see the SPHERES operate in space via a live feed from the ISS while NASA astronauts provide real-time commentary. Space Robotics Summer Program is provided through a partnership between the MIT Space Systems Lab, the Innovation Learning Center, and Aurora Flight Sciences. The program is sponsored by NASA, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and the Northrup Grumman Foundation. Space Robotics seeks to inspire our next generation of great minds by allowing them unprecedented access to space. By making the benefits and resources of the International Space Station tangible to students, Space Robotics hopes to cultivate an appreciation of science, technology, engineering and math through healthy, immersive, collaborative competition.

For tournament, participants:

•Brainstorm strategies

•Apply math and physics

•Write computer programs

•Observe results in simulation

•Compete in online competitions

Game

Student participants compete to win a technically challenging game by programming their strategies into the SPHERES. Students’ programs control the satellites’ speed, rotation, and direction of travel. The students program their satellites to complete competition objectives, for example navigating obstacles, while conserving resources such as fuel. The programs are autonomous – that is, the students are not able to directly control the satellites while they are running. Each year’s game is motivated by a problem of interest to NASA and MIT.

Students create, edit, save, and simulate projects online. They use a graphical editor to write code, then simulate their programs immediately and see the results using a simulation. The programming interface and simulation are entirely web-based, so ZR does not require any software downloads or computer configuration. The system even allows teams to compete against themselves so that they can test different strategies before finalizing their competition submissions.

Includes a field trip on air-conditioned motorcoach bus to MIT.

The fastest-growing elementary and middle school robotics system in Connecticut is VEX IQ. During this week, students will design, build, drive and compete with their VEX IQ robot. VEX is a platform widely used in schools across the state and is the system used in over six annual VEX competitions where some will progress to the VEX IQ world competition where teams from around the world travel to compete. After assembling a base robot, students will design robotic solutions to official VEX challenges. Students will be introduced to the robot coding and problem-solving skills necessary to successfully meet these challenges.