Year 8 IT Robotics Challenge

In the last week of Term 3, Year 8 students attended a whole day excursion to Yarra Ranges Tech School (YRTS). YRTS focuses on establishing STEM (Science / Technology / Engineering / Mathematics) foundation, design thinking and real-world transformative skills in secondary school students, in order to prepare them for future careers.

Students undertook a challenge that required them to complete one design briefing. They investigated insects, explored issues around water science, mechatronics, digital design and engineering principles. The students then programmed small insectoid robots to navigate through a pipe maze to clear obstructions.

Please enjoy the following photos and student reflections on the recent IT excursion. 

Leslie Zhou

SS Head – IT / Maths

We attended Yarra Ranges Tech school on Friday 15 September, where we learnt how to code Ringo, our robot insect. We learnt how to make it move forward and detect black lines. When it detected lines, it was coded to turn away, using a range of angles, from the line and keep moving. We were even taught to add different and personalised colours. The day was fun and very interesting to learn all about coding and how different robots can perform different tasks to help people with daily tasks. We ended the day with a really fun race of our robots with many twists and turns. It was a great way to finish Term 3. Piper Corrigan (8.5)

In this excursion, we have learnt how to code and program robots. We went to Yarra Ranges Tech School and the teachers showed us the basics of coding. They were helpful in showing us how to do it, but also made us think and design our own ideas to put into our robots. It has been a helpful insight into behind the scenes of the world of robots and coding. John Brightwell (8.8)