Robots are Rising at CHS

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In the twenty-first century, human progress has advanced so much that the database of human knowledge is now doubling every five years. Progress demands a need for efficiency, and in many depictions of the future, efficiency is best portrayed by robots.

VEX Robotics is a nationwide robotics program that allows teams of students to design and create their own robots. This club will then take their creations to competitions around the state, where they and their robot will be judged on many criteria such as navigation, programming, and skillful engineering.

Mr. Paul Lincicome, who teaches freshman physical science, came up with the idea to start the VEX Robotics team. Mr. Lincicome said, “I wanted to start this club because, for a long time, Mr. Edge ran the Ham Radio Club, which was a great club for kids who liked to tinker. After he retired, there hasn’t been a robotics club. I wanted to start something where we could fill that technological interest in kids, and robotics is a great way to combine a whole lot of scientific interests.”

VEX Robotics is the most predominate high school level robotics programs. Mr. Lincicome said, “We chose to go with VEX Robotics because it is the most established robotics programs in Arkansas. There are a lot of schools that already have a VEX Robotics program. Even some of our feeder schools like Holy Souls has one. There are also lots of competitions going on in the state for this program, whereas a lot of other robotics programs are a whole lot harder to find competitions for. VEX is also designed to where you can theoretically start competing the day that you get your robot.”

While the robotics club is about designing and programming a robot, there is a competitive aspect to the VEX program as well. Mr. Lincicome said, “There are six different criteria on which your robot is judged. Some of them are based on how well you program or how well you navigate your robot, but all of them are competitions against other schools.”

People have given many names to the twenty-first century, but one of the more recognized ones in the “Information Age”. The name refers to how much society has shifted with the turn of the century from being largely based on industry towards being largely based on information and technology. Robots, along with smartphones and computers, are at the forefront of this informational revolution, as they becoming more available and more advanced. Knowing some of the skills in robotics will have its advantages in the growing age of robots. Mr. Lincicome said, “Learning how to program might just be the most important thing that students will get out of the club. The ability to know how a program results in the movement of an actual object will be really helpful to learn early in life. It can really open a lot of doors for people in the future because almost every engineering field now requires you to learn a good amount of programming before you graduate. You have to really understand that automation is going to be a really big part of the future.”

Anybody who likes to tinker or anybody who has a niche in engineering is recommended to join the club. Mr. Lincicome said, “This club will be a great thing for anybody who has any sort of mechanical aptitude or any skills in programming. I highly recommend that people with these skills join the club.”

Sophomore Carlos Yang plans on joining VEX when it begins. He said, “I think that the club will be great for anybody who is interested in engineering. I think it will have a lot of real-world applications too because robots are the future. It will provide a great glimpse of what the future will be like in the vast field of mathematics and science”.

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