MassRobotics teamed with Education First to provide a workshop and tour of our robotics lab for a group of 8th grade students. The group from Louisiana was on a STEM tour visiting New York and Boston. While in Boston, students visited the MIT Museum, rode on a duck boat, spent time at Quincy Market and more.
They spent their last day at MassRobotics building a robotic arm which included a gripper. Once built, the hydraulic arm could pick up objects and swivel 90 degrees. Water syringes were used to actuate the claws and arms. Students learned how fluid transfer can make the workload easier and discovered the mechanical advantage of levers when moving objects.
Students were brought into the Lab where they interacted with collaborative robot arms, had their photo taken with the NASA Valkyrie humanoid robot, and watched the Pepper humanoid dance. This was the first pilot program with middle schoolers and Education First. Next up – a group of high schoolers in June.