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)
This year 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) has been active in Tennessee for three years. 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.
The CEC is committed to sponsoring another year of funding and advising.
The 2003 Challenge will be announced during May of this year, with materials available during the summer. This year’s challenge is based on a “Trip to Mars”.
The Chattanooga Engineers Club would like each of the participants that helped start the program to participate again at the same level. The scope of the program is expected to double in 2003 to include four HCDE schools, at least two private schools and a possible “home school” group sponsored by the CDM. In addition, the CDM expects to add some of the problem solving and teamwork features of the competition to their program for next year, more than doubling the number of “spectators” and substantially increasing the number of “participants“.
Each “new” participant will cost about $700 to $750 in materials (complete startup kit, entry fees, supplies).
Each “old” participant will cost about $400 to $450 in material, due to the ability to reuse the Lego Robotic components (basic material, entry fees, and supplies).
Advisor hours for each team should remain about the same, requiring at least two additional advisors from the CEC membership.
All three of this year’s schools have expressed the intention to participate again.
Fred Carr has promised at least two more contacts for possible HCDE participants.
The CEC has committed both funds and advisor hours.
The CDM will participate in Engineers Week again and is considering inclusion of Lego Robotics into the Fall Term programming and also considering use of Lego Robotics in their permanent display.
Hometown Threads will participate at the same level as last year (50% discount on clothing items, their cost).
Contacts have not been made with Benwood and the Community Foundation, but their participation would certainly be justified (twice as much program for the same investment).
Additional sponsors (about $1000 to $1200) will be needed to finance the enlarged program, but there are now solid results to be shown to potential participants. Last year’s sponsors acted on faith in the CEC, which is MUCH appreciated.
Getting a late start put extra pressure on the participants and advisors, but also heightened the “urgency” of the project. An earlier start for Challenge 2003 will allow the sponsors and participants to set time and money aside earlier in the year, improving levels of participation and accomplishment.
Despite the late start, the “Lego Robot” project has made a considerable impact on the local community and allowed us to provide a very challenging program to local students.
The project has also permitted many adults to become personally involved in the local education systems, increasing awareness of fiscal and temporal pressures on students, teachers, parents and interested sponsors.
In short, IT WAS GREAT and we can’t wait to take a “Trip to Mars”.