Time Warner funds high school Robotics Club

    LIMESTONE — A grant from Time-Warner Cable is providing several Maine School of Science and Mathematics (MSSM) students with innovative robotics training. The MSSM Robotics Club, a student activity led by physics teacher Pierre Gervez, offers students an opportunity to gain knowledge in robotics and automated control systems through games, competitions and personal projects initiated by the students. Students must build upon their understanding of mathematics, the laws of motion, computer programming, electronics, and engineering in order to participate in club activities.     The MSSM Robotics Clubs will be participating in the second annual Maine VEX Robotics Competition hosted by the University of Maine Robotics Club. The competition involves matches in which two robots race against the clock to perform various tasks faster than their opponents.
    In preparation for the competition, MSSM robotics club students recently spent their two-week J-Term establishing two teams and designing robots. Using VEX Robotic Design System kits purchased through the Time-Warner grant, each team designed and built robots capable of qualifying to participate in the Maine VEX Championship on Saturday, March 27 at the University of Maine in Orono. Both teams will be attending competition.
    “The VEX competition limits a robot’s size, restricts the number of motors and controllers and bars the use of non-VEX-certified components,” Gervez said. “Maneuvering inside a walled court during a timed two-minute contest, a robot must transfer specific balls — small VEX basketballs and footballs — over the wall to an adjacent court without touching that wall,” he added. “Complicating the contest are three other robots, one in the same court and two in the adjacent court, all vying to move the same balls.”
    Robotics Club members Lucy Wilcox of New Gloucester and Kristy Garcia of Rockland attended the STEM for Maine’s Future Summit 2010 recently held in Augusta. As exhibitors, the students explained and demonstrated how their robots work and presented a poster detailing the evolution of their robots.
    Additional information regarding the Maine School of Science and Mathematics can be obtained by visiting www.mssm.org.