The Chattanooga Engineers Club has two primary civic service goals, education and industrial development. The “Education” goal has been previously concentrated on secondary and post-secondary education with support of programs in:
The Regional Science Fair (middle and high schools)
Support of CSTCC (two year and continuing programs)
Support of UTC (undergraduate and graduate programs)
In August 2002, some associates at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory asked (challenged) the CEC to become involved in a relatively new statewide program, the First Lego League. This program, aimed at middle school students, uses the Lego Robotic products in a competitive setting to teach and develop skills in teamwork, strategy, programming, and problem solving.
The First Lego League (FLL) became active in Tennessee in the year 2000. The “Challenge” is a set of defined problems, used throughout the US and internationally, to be solved by a team of 4 to 10 students using identical problem structures (the stage and set) and a uniquely designed robot and programs (the actor and script).
The 2002 Challenge theme was “City Sights”, robots in an urban environment (housing, safety, energy, environment and commerce).
Each team uses Lego plastic construction pieces to create the problem scenario on a 4-foot by 8-foot “work area” with a plastic surface supplied by the national organization, assuring identical placement and difficulty.
Each team then arrives at a “solution” for the problems involving:
Design and construction of a robot using the Lego “brick” (a robotic memory, power supply and control device) and standard Lego plastic construction components, motors, sensors, and accessories
Development of a strategy (as a team) to solve the problems (eight in 2002) within 150 seconds, earning as many points as possible for each problem successfully solved.
Creation, testing and “tweaking” (incremental improvement) of the programs and the features of the robot to improve the total score
Funding for the 2002 Challenge was received from four sources:
The Education Fund of the Chattanooga Engineers Club ($500)
The members of CEC (more than 100 hours of “advisor” time)
The Benwood foundation ($1000)
An anonymous fund in the Community Foundation ($500)
Doug Fisher of Hometown Threads ($250 in product)
This funding was used to purchase two complete sets of Lego Robotic instructional material, three “work areas”, and reward material for participants (knit shirts)
Because we got a late start (September) due to the timing of the ORNL challenge to the CEC, we limited participation to two Hamilton County Department of Education (HCDE) schools (CEC supplied materials and entry fees) and the Girls Preparatory School (GPS), which supplied its own materials and entry fees.
Fred Carr, Assistant Superintendent of the HCDE, supplied the school’s contacts and Ed Chapin, project coordinator for the CEC, visited each of three schools and offered the program. Tyner Middle Academy (TMA) and Chattanooga School for Arts and Sciences (CSAS) agreed to participate. The (GPS) had also formed a team and participated.
When the statewide competition was held in December at Cookeville, Tennessee at Tennessee Technological University, the TMA and GPS teams both sent four students, a teacher and a support (family) crew to participate in a day-long competition which included three separate rounds of the robot on the work area, two technical interviews by the judges and advisors, and a presentation by the teams of the use of robots in an urban environment. The CSAS team had not completed construction of a robot able to solve half of the problems (self-imposed goal) and did not make the trip to Cookeville.
In February, all three teams participated in a “wrap up” display at the Creative Discovery Museum (CDM) during the Engineers Week exhibits. All three teams showed different robots and displayed the work area and problem solving process. This was also an excellent opportunity for the three teachers to spend some time together, comparing experiences and plans for next year. Two of the schools (GPS and TMA) have actually incorporated elements of the FLL program into course schedules for next year and the CSAS came away with a commitment to make the extra time available necessary to complete the project. Making several hours a week available for a new project, starting four weeks into the term, was very difficult for all three schools and starting at the beginning of the term should solve this problem. In any case, there are no real limits to the competition for time and interest on the part of the students and the CEC is pleased that we got strong cooperation and participation from all three schools.
The 2002 Challenge made a strong impression on more than 25 students, 3 teachers, and more than 200 students who saw the CDM display.
The two schools that participated at Cookeville both scored in the upper half of the competitors (surprising for schools participating for the first time) and both schools have put robotics into course material for next year.
Funding for the 2003 Challenge was received from four sources:
The Education Fund of the Chattanooga Engineers Club ($500)
The members of CEC (more than 100 hours of “advisor” time)
The Benwood foundation ($1000)
An anonymous fund in the Community Foundation ($500)
Doug Fisher of Hometown Threads ($150 in product)
This funding was used to purchase one complete set of Lego Robotic instructional material, three “work areas”, and reward material for participants (knit shirts). Schools that participated last year (Tyner and CSAS) used robots provided last year. One “new” school (Hunter) was completely equipped.
Fred Carr, Assistant Superintendent of the HCDE, supplied the school’s contacts and Ed Chapin, project coordinator for the CEC, contacted each of three schools and offered the program. Tyner Middle Academy (TMA) and Chattanooga School for Arts and Sciences (CSAS) agreed to participate for a second year. Hunter Middle School was a new participant. This year a “local” event was coordinated with the Challenger Center on the UTC campus.
When the statewide competition was held in December at Cookeville, Tennessee at Tennessee Technological University, the TMA team sent nine students (one was ill and could not attend), a teacher and a support (family) crew to participate in a day-long competition which included three separate rounds of the robot on the work area, two technical interviews by the judges and advisors, and a presentation by the teams of the use of robots to explore the Martian surface. The CSAS and Hunter teams had not completed construction of a robot able to solve half of the problems (self-imposed goal) and did not make the trip to Cookeville.
This year the Tyner TYBOTS won a First Place trophy in Research Presentation and a Second Place trophy in Teamwork. This was extraordinary for a school competing against forty of the finest schools in the state of Tennessee. They placed seventh in the field of forty when the robot construction, programming and performance were included.
The 2004 Challenge was announced during May, with materials available during the summer. This year’s challenge was based on “No Limits”, the use of automation to assist the handicapped. CEC had a "local" event, preceding the trip to Cookeville, to acquaint the local teams with each other, provide an opportunity to practice under the pressure of a 150 second clock and spectators, and to introduce the teams to a local resource for research. This year's local event was held at the Siskin Childrens Institute, with unmatched resources for education and training for the physically challenged child. The teams toured the classrooms, met with staff members and then had a local demonstration. The clear leader in this year was the newest team, the Robotroopers, a North Georgia Boy Scout troop, led by Chris Carson.
The Chattanooga Engineers Club received additional support from the Chattanooga Manufacturers Association, replacing the start-up grants from the two local foundations. Participation was at the same level as the last year, due largely to illness and surgery on the program coordinator, which substantially limited the level of his participation.
The 2005 Challenge was announced during May, but this year was somewhat special as we were asked by Brad Weill of the Tennessee First Lego League to help in securing the cooperation of the Tennessee Aquarium in the 2005 Challenge, "Ocean Odyssey". The result was quite successful with the Aquarium providing four judges for the Cookeville competition, hosting the "local" event with an attendance of about 40 parents and students, the largest to date, and strong participation from the first home school group to participate.
This year’s challenge was based on a exploring the ocean, which tied together perfectly with the grabd opening of the salt-water section of the Aquarium..
The Chattanooga Engineers Club received additional support from the Chattanooga Manufacturers Association, Coca Cola, and the Associated General Contractor Chattanooga Chapter. Participation was three strong teams, Tyner Middle Academy, the Robotroopers, and a new home school team from the Hixson area. For the first time in four years, every team that participated was at the statewide competition in Cookeville, an outstanding accomplishment!
The 2006 Challenge was announced during May, and the theme was "Nano Quest", the uses of nanotechnology (extremely small objects). The "local event" a session for practice, study and inspiration was hosted by Dr. Jayesh Doshi and eSpin Technologies and attracted teams from Cookeville and Tullahoma, as well as the local teams. This local event held three weeks before the state competition in Cookeville had a great impact on all participating teams and will become a major focus of 2007.
The Chattanooga Engineers Club received additional support from the Chattanooga Manufacturers Association, Coca Cola, and the Associated General Contractor Chattanooga Chapter. As in every other year, support from HometownThreads in the Hamilton Place Walmart, provided shirts and embroidery at below cost. Participation was three strong teams, Tyner Middle Academy, the Robotic Wildcats from David Brainerd Christian School, and CSAS returned after a year off. Because Lora Jenkins (four year coach at Tyner Middle Academy) had moved to the Cleveland system, they were included in all local events, but were supported primarily by the Cleveland area. For the second time in five years, every team that participated was at the statewide competition in Cookeville, an outstanding accomplishment! The four teams brought home six trophies, an extraordinary accomplishment
The 2007 challenge has been announced as "Energy", including energy alternatives. The Actual challenge items will be announced on September 15, 2007, as in past years. This year we will put additional effort into the "local eveny", because of this years spectacular results, due in large part to a very successful local event.