Daily Archives: May 20, 2017

Just across the bay from San Francisco, a group of Oakland Technical High School students has been meeting twice a week for months, hacking away on robots slated to compete in two of the most important series of student robotics competitions in the world.

At Oakland Tech, around 20 high schoolers have been building robots for the Vex tournament and for the FIRST competition, where thousands of students go head to head to see which team can build the most capable machine.

The robots are supposed to be able to do random, albeit challenging, tasks. In this years Vex event, which took place in January in Mountain View, Calif., at the Google Campus, the Oakland club was tasked with making a robot that can pick up small star-shaped figurines and throw them over a fence. For the local FIRST competition, which was held in San Francisco in March, the team had to build and program a robot that could pick up a cog and hang it on a peg.

A lot of it is white, male dominated and heteronormative.

Building these robots means piecing together a body, getting the motors working, then programming it to carry out an order. And it all has to work together without a hitch. Its not easy.

While Oaklands team has won awards at robotics tournaments against contestants from all over the world, the team also stands out in other ways.

When we go to competitions, we really dont look like the other teams that are there, said Kai Drayton-Yee, one of the leaders of Oakland Techs robotics team, who is Chinese, Japanese and black. A lot of it is white, male dominated and heteronormative.

Oakland Techs robotics club is led by three non-male-identified students.

We generally have the highest number of women on our team, said Drayton-Yee. And we generally have the most people of color on our team, too.

Their robotics club doesnt look much like a typical group of engineers in Silicon Valley, either.

At Google, for instance, only 1 percent of its tech employees are black, only 3 percent are Hispanic and only 19 percent of all its tech employees are women.

Likewise, at Facebook, 1 percent of its tech employees are black, 3 percent are Hispanic and 17 percent are women, according to data released by the company last summer. In its blog post about the report, Facebook blamed a lack of available talent on whats called the pipeline problem, lamenting that there arent enough diverse candidates entering the tech industry.

(Its worth noting, though, that multiple reports have found there are more black and Latino computer science engineers entering the workforce than are being hired by tech companies.)

One likely reason for the shortage of candidates is a dearth of technology education in public schools.

Computer science education in public high schools across the country is rare, particularly in areas with high minority populations. But in Oakland, one of the most diverse cities in the country, thats changing.

In 2015, only three public high schools in Oakland offered computer science courses. But this school year, 14 do, out of 17 high schools district-wide.

There are now 2,853 Oakland public high school students enrolled in computer science, up more than three times from the 685 that were enrolled in it during the previous school year.

Only seven states across the country have standards for computer science in K-12 education.

For comparison, 10 of the 14 public high schools in San Francisco now offer computer science courses. (Though the cosmopolitan city just north of Silicon Valley has seen its overall public high school enrollment shrink after the late-1990s tech boom, as many of San Franciscos wealthy residents opted to send their kids to private schools.)

Statewide in California, only 35 percent of high schools offer any computer science courses, according to data from the Level Playing Field Institute.

Computer science education is also expanding across the country. Chicago offers computer science at approximately 65 of its 106 public high schools. In Los Angeles, of the citys 97 public high schools, 74 currently offer computer science courses. In Miami, all public high schools offer the courses, and in Washington, D.C., 10 of its 16 public high schools do. The data was compiled by the school districts for Recode.

The computer science expansion at Oakland high schools was funded in part by a $5 million grant from Intel to grow the programs over the next five years. By 2018, the district plans for every public high school in Oakland to offer computer engineering courses. Now that it is part of Oaklands core academic requirements, every freshman is required to take computer science if its offered at their school.

But nationwide, only seven states have standards for computer science in K-12 education, according to data from the nonprofit Code.org, and only 32 states allow computer science to count toward high school graduation otherwise its an elective.

Hundreds of students across the district will now be creating applications and hardware projects, like robotics or websites, said Claire Shorall, who teaches calculus and computer science at Castlemont High School in Oakland and spearheaded the school districts computer science expansion. I think what were going to see are ideas that havent yet entered the market, because students from diverse backgrounds will create things we havent seen before.

Forty-five percent of all computer science students in Oakland Unified are young women, and our numbers for African American and Latino students far exceed what we see in the tech workforce, Shorall said.

Most of the Oakland school districts computer science teachers started as teachers in other areas and were trained up to teach the new courses. And most of those teachers leading Oaklands computer science classes are people of color, too, which Shorall says makes it easier for students from underrepresented communities to envision themselves entering tech jobs.

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This Oakland high school robotics club should be the future of a more diverse tech industry - Recode

Members of the Vermillion Area Robotics Club (VARC) recently returned from the 10th annual VEX Robotics World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky. Competing against youth from 40 different countries, Vermillions teams brought home two special awards that recognized them for their hard work and effort.

Susan Rolfes, VARC advisor, said attending the world robotics competition was a great experience for the youth. VARC elementary and high school members were teamed with elementary and high school students from around the world during the competition.

Vermillions high school team competed with metal robots in six different divisions that included 564 teams.

Our team was assigned the Research Division and excelled during qualification rounds, says Rolfes. They were selected by the third ranked alliance to go into the divisional quarterfinal playoffs, but were eliminated in the playoffs by the alliance that went on to win the division and that took third at VEX Worlds.

The VEXC VRC team was recognized and won the Community Award in the Research Division for being the team that exemplifies extraordinary community involvement and awareness.

Through the effort of adult volunteers and our robotics club youth, our club has hosted two robotics camps at USD, a special interest day at Jolley, a girl-powered event promoting girls in STEM, Rolfes said. Our club has also offered non-competitive robotics, a club member taught Code Club at the public library last fall, and we hosted a robotics scrimmage in Vermillion and helped with events in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa. The kids also spoke about the importance of technology education to area civic organizations and the county fair.

Rolfes points to the wonderful support the club has received from the community as another factor in the team winning the Community Award.

Several organizations, businesses, and individuals in Vermillion, Yankton, and North Sioux City have partnered with our group along the way, whether it be providing a place to host an event, purchasing or loaning us equipment, donating event fees, and or offering us promotional items, she said. They all had a stake in our success promoting robotics.

Vermillions middle school and elementary robotics teams competed with plastic robots alongside 580 teams divided into eight divisions.

They aligned with teams from all over the world and quickly realized that not all of them spoke English, explains Rolfes. They shared tokens from their respective communities.

In the end, Vermillions elementary team placed 55th out of 250 teams in driving and programming skills. The VARC middle school team placed 98th out of 274 teams in driving and programming skills and also won a special award the Think Award in the Engineering Division. The Think Award is awarded to the team with innovative and effective programming.

The VEX World Robotics Championship event will be broadcast on CBS Sunday, June 11th at 2 pm (eastern). Watch for the VARC teams on the divisional awards screens.

Original post:

Vermillion Robotics Club Attends World Competition - Vermillion Plain Talk

Submitted Photo

Lazarus Industries includes, from left, Head of Research and Development Georges Oates Larsen, CEO Haley Werst, Chief of Business Operations Jennifer Jordan, Chief of Manufacturing Sam Daire and team adviser Pat Keefe, a physics instructor at Clatsop Community College.

Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian

Jennifer Jordan, chief of business operations for Clatsop Community Colleges underwater robotics team, holds a tether while the team practices with its submersible, Lazarus, at the Astoria Aquatic Center.

Clatsop Community Colleges underwater robotics team, the only collegiate qualifier in Oregon for the finals of an global competition, needs help getting to Long Beach, California.

Lazarus Industries, the eight-member team of students competing in Marine Advanced Technology Educations remotely operated vehicle competition, recently qualified for the international finals at Long Beach City College in late June.

Their self-built robot, Lazarus, is tasked with mock missions helping the Port of Long Beach install a hyperloop for transporting cargo; repair a fountain in a water and light show; assess and cap contaminated sediment; and identify and map cargo that fell off of a cargo ship into the harbor.

Last year, the team was the only collegiate Oregon qualifier for the finals at NASAs Johnson Space Center. The team performed well last year with its submersible, Magnificus Maggie Praesegmen, but stumbled in marketing and product demonstrations, placing last among 31 competitors from North America, Europe and Asia.

This year, the team expanded to include CEO Haley Werst, Chief of Business Operations Jennifer Jordan, Head of Research and Development Georges Oates Larsen, Chief of Manufacturing Sam Daire and multiple engineers in hopes of a more rounded performance. The team is advised by college physics instructor Pat Keefe.

Lazarus

This robot was built from the ashes of Maggie, Oates Larsen, a team member since 2013, said of the new robot. Lazarus is meant to have everything we thought other teams did well last year.

Named after the biblical narrative of the raising Lazarus from the dead, the robot is built around an octagonal metal frame with six thrusters to completely control navigation underwater, cameras facing every direction, buoyancy chambers on top and a fiber-optic tether running to the controls on land.

The colleges upstart team operates each year on a shoestring budget compared to its opponents, cannibalizing last years robot for the next generation. Jordan, a physics student in her first year with the team, said it receives only $500 in dedicated funding through the college, with the rest coming from fundraising.

The team needs to raise money for housing, transportation, motor upgrades and a manipulator to grab objects in the competition, and has formed a GoFundMe page at http://tinyurl.com/mzoky55. From 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, the team will hold The Art of Robotics, a demonstration and fundraiser at the Barbey Maritime Center.

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Robotics team qualifies for international event - Daily Astorian

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Read more:

Robotics kits integrate STEAM concepts into Franklin Regional's Sloan Elementary classrooms - Tribune-Review

Published: Sat, May 20, 2017 @ 12:06 a.m.

Staff report

WARREN

A national institute dedicated to bolstering U.S. manufacturing competitiveness is reaching out to potential partners in the Mahoning Valley.

A representative of Carnegie Mellon Universitys recently established Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute spoke to a group of university, business and political officials at the Valley Alliance for Science and Technologys monthly luncheon Friday at the Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center.

This is a national institute where we all have a deep vision to look at manufacturing differently, said Jackie Erickson, ARM director of marketing communications. This is our future. This is our future jobs.

The ARM Institute, established in January as part of a national manufacturing network launched by the Obama administration, is a public-private partnership partially funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The program aims to bring together organizations with ties to manufacturing, with the overall goal of asserting U.S. leadership in advanced manufacturing and finding new robotics solutions.

Erickson addressed a question that frequently accompanies discussions of robotics: How does it affect jobs?

Theres a way to retrain and prepare for the future. You have to think ahead or you will be left behind, she said.

ARM would like to have a role in that process, she said, noting the institute has an education and workforce development component.

Part of ARMs focus is aiding and sustaining jobs in this area, Erickson said. We want to look for the ability to create pathways for job opportunities.

Read more:

National institute focused on robotics looking for members - Youngstown Vindicator

Gov. Paul LePage is pledging up to $25,000 in matching funds to benefit a charter schools robotics team, one of a handful of K-12 expenditures from the governors contingency fund.

The money is for the Outliers, a FIRST robotics team at Baxter Academy for Technology and Science. The team was a subdivision winner at the annual FIRST championship in St. Louis, Missouri, and the first Maine team to reach the finals round, school officials said.

The FIRST robotics challenge this year was to build a robot no taller than 3 feet, no heavier than 120 lbs and powered by a 12 volt battery that completes a series of complex tasks.

LePage invited the Outliers to Blaine House on Friday.

This is an incredible accomplishment and the Governor wants to celebrate it and ensure they have the resources to continue, spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said in an email. Governor LePage supports charter schools and hes willing to put his money where his mouth is.

LePage hopes to encourage businesses to support the Outliers or any robotics team in the state, she said.

Of seven Maine FIRST robotics teams that qualified to go to the St. Louis championships, the Outliers were one of three that attended. Infinite Loop, from Messalonskee High School in Oakland, was eliminated in the quarterfinals, but won the Gracious Professionalism award. The Bucks Wrath, from Bucksport High School, was also eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Infinite Loop and Northern Force, a FIRST robotics team from Falmouth and Gorham, are two of only six U.S. robotics teams invited to China to participate in a cultural and technological exchange in June, where they will partner with local students on a robotics challenge.

Bennett said the governor has used the contingency fund on other education-related initiatives, including $7,000 for Regional School Unit 50 for two teachers to attend an out-of-state conference on dyslexia, $30,000 to the University of Maine School of Law Foundation for scholarships, $30,000 for the Challenger Learning Center in Bangor for math and science programs for middle school students, and $50,000 for My Place Teen Center, a nonprofit in Westbrook.

The governor can spend up to $350,000 a year from the contingency fund.

LePage has used the contingency fund for a broad range of causes, including paying to ship lobster care packages to other governors, making donations to charitable organizations and giving $50,000 to a drug treatment center in Ellsworth. In a May 2 radio interview, he said he planned to use the fund to pay for lawyers to sue Attorney General Janet Mills.

More here:

LePage pledges to match donations for charter school robotics team - Press Herald