1C649EA0-5F31-411F-A3B5-8BDB98B510F4.jpeg

The Gear Grinders won back-to-back PA state championships. They qualified to compete at the upcoming VEX IQ World Championship later this year.

Coaches:

Matt Wilson, programming mentor

Matt Hyatt, building mentor

Kim Hyatt, STEM mentor

At this point in the season, the Gear Grinders won the Excellence award, 2x the STEM Research Project award, and 2x Teamwork award.

Note; The Excellence Award is the highest award presented in the VEX Robotics competition. The key criteria for this award include: 

Ranking for design (engineering notebook)
Ranking for qualification matches
Ranking for robot skills
Ranking for other judged awards
Quality of the team’s interview with the Judges
High-quality robot

This year for their STEM project, the team researched how robots are used in the ocean to clean up trash (e.g., WasteShark).

Check back to see how the rest of the season turns out!

____________________________________________________

IMG_0944.jpg

·       STEM Research Project:  Each year, VEX selects one STEM area (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) as part of the competition to encourage additional learning in a STEM field; this year’s focus is math. Teams research, explore, and create projects to demonstrate their learning. The Gear Grinders started their research by working with John Choi from Carnegie Mellon University and Choitek to learn about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). First, they programmed their own Chatbot using Python (a programming language) to understand AI and ML. Then, they applied this knowledge to show how mathematics is used in AI and ML with neural networks, specifically, the perceptron. The perceptron works the same way as a neuron – only mathematically. It uses inputs (weighted or given values) and tells the net’s processor that one input might be more likely to be right than others. To demonstrate their knowledge, the team used the popular video game, Fortnite, as an example. They plugged in numbers and completed calculations to show how a zombie (AI in Fortnite) determines if it is interacting with another zombie or a player before deciding to eliminate or ignore it.  The judges were truly impressed with their 4-minute video submission that highlighted their work. What a creative way for this team to showcase their learning.

·       Excellence Award:  At the end of the VEX IQ Challenge competition, one team is selected to receive the Excellence Award for demonstrating exceptional skills in teamwork, leadership, and communications; it is the competition's highest honor.  The Gear Grinders were honored to receive this award and graciously accepted it, thanking coaches Jay Clayton (mechanical), Matt Wilson (programming), and Kim Hyatt (STEM).