Outreach – The Robot Group, Inc.

Outreach : Gateway CPS

F1 in Schools is an international STEM competition for school children, in which groups of 3–6 students have to design and manufacture a miniature car … using CAD/CAM design tools. The cars are powered by CO₂ cartridges and are attached to a track by a nylon wire.
Wikipedia

Some of Christy Williams’ students at the Gateway College Prep School in Georgetown, TX have formed a team to compete in the F1 in Schools program. That team, Aspire TX, sought help from The Robot Group and Brooks Coleman and others have risen to the occasion.

You can see the preliminary results in the YouTube video linked below.

The first prototype completed. — The Aspire, TX team’s first 3D-printed prototype. The team consists of several of Christy Williams’ students from Gateway College Prep School in Georgetown, TX.

Outreach : Barton Creek Elementary School, 2nd grade, Gifted & Talented class

The Robot Group was invited to the 2nd grade Gifted & Talented class at Barton Creek Elementary.

Eric Lundquist brought the Babbling Head, Catherine the Creative, and the P5 Virtual Reality Glove.

Eric monitors as Babbling Head entertains the troops. — Eric Lundquist monitors as Babbling Head entertains the troops.

Babbling Head entertains the students with a song. — Eric Lundquist monitors as Babbling Head entertains the troops.

The students were great and had a lot of interesting questions. Babbling Head sang a few songs. Catherine the Creative moved a chess piece around. All of the students got a chance to try out the virtual reality glove.

Everyone had a lot of fun.

Outreach : Berzerkworks, August 1991

The Robot Group, in a collaborative effort, produced an installation entitled “Berzerkwerks” which was on display during August of 1991, at the Austin Children’s Museum.

The work consisted of various computerized kinetic sculptures interactively-controlled by a central computer through a video input device. The observer’s moving image was dynamically captured by a video digitizer, and mixed with computer graphics. Interaction of the captured image with the computer graphic objects controlled the behavior of the sculptures. The combined image was then projected onto a large screen.

In addition, several of The Robot Group members participate in an annual Berzerkwerks outing now called Jump Start.

The program is taken to local elementary schools in at-risk areas. These shows are very popular with the kids. By encouraging these youth to be interested in science at a young age, we hope to help them stay interested in school.

Who knows? The next Einstein could be right in our backyard.

Outreach : Space Shuttle Simulator

Throughout its history, The Robot Group’s outreach program at area primary schools has been a key activity. “Robots, Gadgets and Gizmos,” a demonstration of robot construction using common household materials, was regularly presented to grade school children identified as “at-risk” and disadvantaged.

One long-term project, the Space Shuttle simulator at Kealing Junior High (since renamed Kealing Middle School), stands above the rest. Science students learned about mechanics and computer control by constructing robot arms used in their final semester projects.

This project was under the direction of Robot Group member, Linda Brown. She was ably-assisted by Alex Iles, Brooks Coleman, and Bill Craig.

Group members also assisted Kealing students by supplying robotic arms and telepresence equipment.

Kealing Junior High's Space Shuttle simulator — Kealing Junior High’s Space Shuttle simulator

This Space Shuttle mock-up, featuring a large robotic manipulator-arm constructed by the students from salvage, appeared at the Cyberspace Convention (1990) and at several RoboFests. The students used the simulator to “fly” missions and accomplish tasks such as rescuing satellites and performing experiments. During these simulated missions, the ground crews communicated with the flight crew via computer terminals and video cameras.