Students thriving in new robotics lab
JEFFERSON TWP — The newly outfitted robotics lab at Knoch High School allows students the opportunity to work with a plethora of cutting edge equipment, instead of the few outdated pieces of equipment previously owned by the school.
“Our robotics club was small before, but it has doubled in size,” said senior Emilie Jones.
Her classmate, Megan Swantner, said having the new equipment will make the transition to college easier.
“A lot of labs there will have high tech stuff like this, so learning to use it (in high school) will be helpful,” she said.
The new equipment — which includes a “3-D printing farm” with eight 3-D printers that can work together and a vinyl printer that can print banners, decals and other items of almost any length, up to 54 inches wide — was funded through a $74,000 grant from the Knoch Knights Legacies Foundation.
Jenny Webb, district communications manager, said of that amount, $67,000 came to the foundation through earned-income tax credit donations from First National Bank, NexTier Bank, Brayman Construction, MSA, Hefren-Tillotson and UPMC.
Three technology teachers and their students use the lab for classes, as does the school's growing robotics club.
Webb said any student working on a project for any class can also use the robotics lab to build whatever they need.
Technology teacher Zach Smith said the 3-D printers allow students to design an object on a computer program then send it to be made by the printer.
Smith explained how robotics club members can create various components they need for 'bot on the computer software and send them to the printers. But now, instead of one part being made on a single 3-D printer, a number of components can be completed at once thanks to the printer farm.
Technology teacher Adam Purdy said brackets, gears and other components for a robot, or even things like cookie cutters for a student's family, can easily be made by students using the software and 3-D printers.He said the 3-D printers use heavy duty, carbon fiber material that can hold up the heavier 'bots.“Students can draw it on the computer and it becomes real life,” Purdy said of the 3-D printers. “Within a day, you can hold it in your hands.”Junior Ira Mercer worked on a huge banner Tuesday that read “Legacies Learning Commons.”The banner was printed on the vinyl printer and will be adhered to the wall above the school's learning commons.Ira said his class also designed a graphic and used the screen printer in the lab to adhere it to T-shirts for students and teachers in the class.“It's a great opportunity for us to use this equipment,” he said. “We aren't able to on our own.”Ira plans on pursuing a career in design after graduating from Knoch.“The lab gives me experience with using different kinds of equipment and software,” he said.Howard Hunt, a senior and member of the robotics club, demonstrated a 4-foot high robot the students named “Shoot 'n Scoot” that the club built last year for a competition.Competition coordinators gave each club a theme and goals to meet in creating a problem-solving robot.Howard said 12 students worked on the robot for three months from design to competition. “Shoot 'n Scoot” ejects a large rubber ball into a tower,This year, robotics club students are building a battle bot that will use an eggbeater motion to mutilate other 'bots that dare get in its way during competition.Emilie plans to pursue a degree in computer science after high school. She points out that robotics club members still haven't even tried all the new equipment provided by the foundation, but they are anxious to, adding how now “anything we need, we can make.”
