...for City of Southlake news, business, and community happenings.
-
- Robotics
Saturday, April 20, 2024
School’s still out for summer, so make the most of the rest of your break with our August youth camps!
Southlake Parks and Recreation’s youth camps are just what you need to beat the back-to-school blues. Check out the cool camps we’re offering this August:
Minecraft Architects
Date: August 6 – 10 Time: 1 – 4 p.m. Ages: 8 – 15 Cost: $175
This camp is designed to spark creative thinking, develop spatial visualization skills and improve math proficiency using the popular video game Minecraft. Kids will work as a team to build structures that meet specific guidelines while taking environmental features into consideration. They’ll also have to use advanced problem-solving skills to defeat the real-world challenges of limited resources and time. Click here to register.
Minecraft Societies
Date: August 6–10 Time: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Ages: 8 – 14 Cost: $175
Minecraft Societies challenges kids to use teamwork, ingenuity and problem-solving skills as they learn about the pillars that make a great society. Campers start in a harsh environment and discover what it takes to start out as an outpost. From there, they’ll vote on what they would like their city to focus on: security, education, healthcare and public works. At the end of camp, team interviews and a video flyby of their city will be posted on 8Bit’s site! Click here to register.
Dodgeball Camp
Date: August 13 – 16 Time: 1 – 4 p.m. Ages: 7 – 12 Cost: $95
In our ultra-popular program, kids have the opportunity to learn and play several versions of dodgeball. The emphasis is on fun, teamwork and exercise. We will play many different versions of the classic game using new coated foam balls, which are perfect for safe and FUN play! Groups are divided based on ages. Please bring a snack and gym shoes. Click here to register.
Thymio Robotics: Visual Programming
Date: August 13 – 17 Time: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Ages: 5 – 7 Cost: $185
In our most popular camp for young engineers, kids learn robotics and basic coding skills as they customize the behavior of our Thymio robots using touch controls and infrared sensors. By the end of the week, each camper will have turned his or her robot into a living, moving creature with a unique personality! Click here to register.
Digital Game Development
Date: August 13 – 17 Time: 1–4 p.m. Ages: 7 – 10 Cost: $185
Create amazing digital games using the pro-quality Clickteam Fusion platform. Campers develop the logical flow of their game then create a unique digital environment complete with animated characters, custom backgrounds and sound effects. This camp is a fun and engaging way to explore one of the hottest new sectors of the tech industry! Click here to register.
You can register for all of these camps online here or in person at Southlake Town Hall (1400 Main Street, Suite 210). Popular camps fill quickly, so be sure to register early! Camps that do not meet minimum registration requirements the Wednesday prior to their scheduled start date will be canceled.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Southlake Community Services at 817-748-8019.
The Carroll Robotics Team, Fired Up! finished sixth overall in their division and reach the quarterfinal round in the World Championships. They also received the Judges Award, an honor given to a team that impresses the judges.
Carroll junior Tiger Yang, competing with the Arlington team T-Vex, was part of the alliance that won the World Championship title.
Teams from 30 different countries competed in the event.
Matches from the World Championships are available to watch online. Click here, look under ‘results’ then VRC High School. Carroll is Team 7110A.
The World VEX Championships took place April 15-18 in Kentucky.
Photo courtesy Southlake Sports Magazine
Carroll hosted a Vex Robotics Competition on Saturday, Jan. 24 and organizers say the event was a huge success.
This was the district’s first Vex Robotics Competition. 30 teams from around the state meet at Carroll High School for a day of intense competition, including a new world record.
The Carroll Robotics team took home what are considered top honors in Vex Competitions. The team had two robots competing, and they joined forces in the final elimination rounds to make it all the way to the finals. Both teams received special recognition from the judges earning the Design Award, and the Excellence Award. The world record in the Programming Skills event was set by another local team featuring CISD student Tiger Yang. Click here for a complete list of tournament results.
Organizers thank participants for making the event a great success; including event announcer, Student Council President Todd Brown as well as judges, volunteers, coaches and spectators.
The Carroll Robotics Team is coached by Linda Woessner at Carroll Senior High School. For more information about Carroll Robotics, visit the team website. The event was also covered by the Star-Telegram and Southlake Sports Magazine/ FOTOSPORT.
On Saturday, January 25, Rockenbaugh Elementary School’s Robotics Club sent four teams to participate in the TCEA Area Inventions Contest. The teams included the following: “GSSH,” “Neat Freak,” “Team Sneeze,” and “Top Chef.”
The “Neat Freak” team won second place by creating a robot that will clean a room and has qualified to represent Rockenbaugh at the state contest at Deer Park High School in Houston. All teams developed and demonstrated critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving skills along with other 21st century skills such as creativity, imagination, curiosity, and innovation.
“These Rockenbaugh students have shown growth using this robotics program,” said coach Cindy Featherston, RES Gifted Specialist. “We are really proud of our team and their accomplishments.”
The Inventions Contest is an open-ended contest. Teams consist of two to four students. They create and develop a robotic invention to demonstrate a solution for a problem of their choice. The teams showcase research, robot performance, robot design, marketing, and presentation skills for judges at the TCEA area contests. Students approach their problem as a real team of engineers working together to solve their problem using the Engineering Design Process. Students in grade levels 4-8 competed in the Intermediate level competition.
A video to celebrate the students achievement is posted below:
RES Robotics -TCEA Inventions Contest 2013-14 from Cynthia Featherston on Vimeo.
Carroll ISD often brings home awards and achievements in the academic and athletic sector, but this young Dragon achieved a particularly unique recognition. Max Thomas, 15-year-old Carroll High School student, recently won the award for Best in Show costume at the Dallas Comic Con.
After attending the Dallas Comic Con in 2012, Max was struck by the creative costumes and was motivated to build his own for the 2013 convention. He wanted to build a full-sized Dalek, a character from the BBC TV show, Dr. Who.
“His friends thought that would be a tough thing to do, therefore Max was even more determined to do so to prove he could do it,” said Tyree Thomas, Max’s mother.
After Max expressed interest in building a Dalek, his father, Toby Thomas, acquired the plans directly from BBC. Beginning in September of 2012, Max spent 6 weeks completing his project on weekends and after school. This is Max’s first large scale, wearable, movable, 6’ robot. It was built with parts from an old hover-round motor, and wheels driven by two electric motors and four motorcycle batteries. It features a joystick drive control for the motors, an air circulation system, lighting system, and a voice changer. In addition to the robot’s articulated eye and hi-res video system, there is even a cup holder. Max first showed his robot in November of 2012 at the Science Fiction/Dr. Who Weekend at the Grapevine British Emporium, before he attended Comic Con this year.
Max has been building robots since he was just seven years old. He graduated from the robotics program at the Lego Education Center in Southlake, and also attended Dragon Robotics summer camps.