For the second consecutive year, Prairieland Elementary students are participating in a Robotics Club. The goal is similar to last year, design and build a robot using the lego mindstorms system, and enter competition with other schools in the F.I.R.S.T Lego League. Most of all though, the plan is to have fun, and if we're lucky, the kids will learn some stuff along the way.
Last year the Prairieland Explorers garnered a 3rd place victory at Regional, and then went on to capture 3rd place at the State competition. Last years competition was called the Ocean Odyssey.
This years robotic challenge is called Nano Quest. Both the research project and the robot missions will involve concepts related to Nanotechnology. According to the FIRST Lego League site, "Nanotechnology is a new scientific frontier that will impact many facets of society, such as medicine, computers, and the environment."
Here is a list of the missions and the maximum points involved with each.
Individual Atom Manipulation - 40 Points
Smell - 20 Points
Stain-Resistant Fabric - 60 Points
Atomic Force Microscopy - 40 Points
Self Assembly - 30 Points
Smart Medicine - 50 Points
Nanotube Strength - 40 Points
Molecular Motor - 40 Points
Space Elevator - 40 Points
Complete 6 Missions - 20 Bonus Points
There are two separate robotics teams at Prairieland, this blog will be chronicling the journey of one of them, the Prairieland Nanobots.
Update 10/18/2006
The Prairieland Nanobots have been divided up into smaller sub teams. Researchers, Builders, Programmers, and Programmer/Testers. They've made some progress in developing the nano-tube strength mission, the dirt trap mission, the space elevator mission, and have begun to put together some research. Next week will be a continuation of the same. Once these initial missions have been mastered, the Nanobots will begin to add additional missions to their repertoire.
Here is the tournament schedule for the Nanobots.
November 4th (Saturday) scrimmage in Peoria.
December 9th (Saturday) Regional tournament in Peoria.
January 13th (Saturday) State tournament in Arlington Heights (if we qualify in Regional).
