Schools
Interested in Robotics? This Meeting is for You
District-wide meeting is tonight for students of all ages; see CHS robots in action.
has only been in existence for a couple of years, but it has already earned state championship titles from both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Tonight, at 7 p.m. in the CHS Cafeteria, the Robotics Club will host a district-wide meeting for students of all ages who are interested in learning more about the district's robotics program.
CHS has established teams in the middle and elementary schools, and the high school is considering adding a robotics class for the 2013-14 school year, according to Allan Tumolillo, CHS Science teacher and advisor to the team. The course would teach the basics of computer programming, to give students an idea of the types of programming they would be using if they pursued a career in the field.
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There are three divisions of robotics teams in the district: elementary, middle school and high school. Students work together in their division to design a robot and have it accomplish tasks. As the students move to the high school, the requirements are stricter as to teamwork, responsibilities and, of course, time commitment.
All district teams should bring their robots and projects to the meeting. The organizers hope to have representatives from US FIRST, the robotics organization with thousands of teams including a number from the SOMS district. Robotics clubs can be organized at the meeting and existing clubs can recruit new members.
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In its first two years, the CHS team has accomplished: NJ State Champions (2011); 2nd place alliance, World Championships in St. Louis (2011), Pennsylvania State Champions (2012), semi-finalist in NJ and NY Metro NYC divisions (2012).
The organizers urge parents to encourage their children to be part of a dynamic program and be prepared for the world they will live where cars are robots, where manufacturing is done by robots, and where many routine tasks in their lifetimes will be done by robots. The CHS robots will be in action and kids can try to drive them. Two robots putt golf balls!
For more information, contact Mr. Tumolillo at atumolil@somsd.k12.nj.us.
