Music City BEST incorporates classroom learning as part of robotics competition
Grace Mestad |
Middle and high school students from 16 schools across Middle Tennessee are expected to participate in the Lipscomb University, Nissan North America and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) annual robotics competition: Music City BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena.
BEST is a national six-week robotics competition held each fall. The competition is open to all middle and high schools including public, private and homeschool groups and is designed to interest youth in possible engineering careers. Students are able to apply the math, science and technology they learn in the classroom into the design and construction of their robot through teamwork and real life problem solving.
Students have been working for six weeks to build a robot that will go head-to-head in an all-day competition from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
2016 schools participating include:
- Lipscomb Academy- Nashville, Tennessee
- Dickson Area Robotics- Dickson, Tennessee
- Discovery School- Murfreesboro, Tennessee
- Oakland Middle School- Murfreesboro, Tennessee
- Battle Ground Academy- Franklin, Tennessee
- Brentwood Middle & High School- Brentwood, Tennessee
- Central Magnet School- Murfreesboro, Tennessee
- Merrol Hyde Magnet School- Hendersonville, Tennessee
- Montgomery Bell Academy- Nashville, Tennessee
- Smyrna Robotics- Smyrna, Tennessee
- Cannon County High School- Woodbury, Tennessee
- Ensworth High School- Nashville, Tennessee
- West End Middle School- Nashville, Tennessee
- Zion Christian Academy- Columbia, Tennessee
- Riverside Association of Robotics and Engineering (RARE)- Fayetteville, Tennessee
- Stewarts Creek Middle School- Smyrna, Tennessee
Throughout the six weeks of preparation, teachers, parents and engineer volunteers have served as mentors for the teams; however, the entire process of building, designing and presenting their robot has been entirely up to the students.
Michael Colletti, vice president of engineering at The Whalen Company in Easton, Maryland, has served as Hub Director for Music City BEST for the past 11 years.
“I always enjoy working with BEST because it’s great to see students taking the math, science, and technology they learn in the classroom and applying them to a real life challenge,” said Colletti. “The students learn how to collaborate in teams to develop creative designs, and then they participate in the hands on construction of their robot. Along with the project notebook, marketing presentation, and team exhibit, they get to see how the Engineering process works from start to finish.”
This competition provides a unique opportunity for students to learn that successful product development is more than just constructing a product, said Colletti. It also includes being able to document your work through a project notebook and the ability to sell your design through a marketing presentation and a team exhibit as well.
This year’s theme, farm operations, will automate the operations on a farm. The robots will plant corn seeds (golf balls), and they will harvest and deliver ripe corn (paint rollers), hydroponic tomatoes (whiffle balls), and lettuce (loofahs). On the farm, pigs (small rubber toy piglets) have escaped from the pen, and the robot must corral them and return them to the pen. In addition, the robot must properly position a valve handle to provide the proper amount of water to the corn crops. Points are awarded based on how many seeds are planted, how many crops are harvested, how many pigs are corralled, and whether the crops are properly watered.
Throughout the day, the 16 teams will compete in seven three-minute matches. The top eight teams will advance to the semifinals where they will compete in three more matches and then the top four teams will move on to the finals where a champion will be determined.
Aside from the farming operations, teams will also be judged on their project notebooks, marketing presentations, team exhibits and interviews, and finally their team spirit and sportsmanship during the competition.
Only three teams will move on to the regional competition in December at Auburn University. These teams are the winners of the first and second place BEST Award and the first place Robot Competition Award.
BEST has hubs across the country and engages more than 18,000 students, more than 600+ teams, with 28 hubs and three regional competitions.
Anyone interested in robots or engineering is invited to view the competition, which traditionally includes mascots, cheerleaders, pep bands and plenty of exciting engineering exhibits.
For more information on the Music City BEST competition please visit: www.bestinc.org/.