Student Robotics

There aren’t many feelings quite like telling a machine what to do and watching it listen. Maybe all you see is a single LED winking at you, and perhaps a tiny motor shuffles in response, but that small spark suddenly puts you in the driver’s seat. If the idea of building a robot or automating even the tiniest chore has …

You’re leaning against the lockers, the kind of spot nobody pays attention to but everyone knows. A jittery idea keeps bubbling up in your brain, almost electric. Maybe it was that wild science lab this morning or one of those robot showdown clips you binged last night. Suddenly, the question hits you and won’t settle down: Doesn’t our school have …

The word ‘robot’ might sound like something from a sci-fi flick, yet kids tinkering in their bedrooms are proving it as real as a laptop. If that idea excites you, you’re in good company. Welcome to home robotics. Surprisingly, a garage full of tools or a fancy engineering diploma isn’t required for your first build. What pays off is plain …

Riley, to those who have participated in a high school robotics competition, you would understand this goes beyond constructing machines; one develops one’s self-concept. That atmosphere is hard not to appreciate: circuits sizzling with the current of concentrated tension, strategy meetings filled with frantic chatter, and a multitude of students staring intently at their robot, as if it were alive …

For most people, robotics competitions evoke the image of sleek and polished machines, accurate movements, and perhaps some spectators watching students showcase their work at a national level. But there is always a narrative to each and every robot gliding through the floor of the arena. In the case of the Lake Orion robotics team, however, that narrative does not …

Riley, if you’ve ever stepped into a high school robotics lab, you know that there’s a certain kind of electricity in the air—and I’m not talking about the circuits. It’s in the way a student’s eyes light up when a motor finally turns after hours of trial and error. This phenomenon is best illustrated in the case of a group …