Lake Placid Middle School students recently took part in a five-day robotics camp held at the Northwood School Innovation Hub. The camp was organized by Olaf Carlson and Brian LaVallee, teachers from the Lake Placid Central School District and funded through the Lake Placid Community Schools program. The goal of the camp was to provide middle schoolers with a fun and engaging activity during the summer break while also giving parents some relief.

During the camp, students competed in a series of robotics competitions, including building robots, coding robots, and playing a cube game. The competitions were part of an international series of events organized by Vex. The students worked in teams of two, with each team member having the opportunity to compete. The competitions involved driving the robot through a series of cones, avoiding obstacles, dropping cubes from a distance, and navigating blind sections.

Aside from the driving tests, the campers also learned how to code their robots to perform autonomous movements. They had to program the robots to navigate through cones and a minefield, as well as to park. In addition to coding and driving, the students also participated in the cube game, where they had to drive across a playing field and pick up cones or cubes to earn points. Some students also had the option to drop the cones on a post for additional points.

The Lake Placid Community Schools program funded the cost of the robots and the field. As a result, Lake Placid Central School will now be able to keep the robots for future use in the middle school’s robotics club. It is worth noting that both Lake Placid and Northwood School also have high school robotics teams that compete at a higher level with larger, more advanced robots. Carlson and LaVallee are the coaches for Lake Placid High School’s robotics competition squad, which participates in the New York Tech Valley Regional each year.

Sources:
– Lake Placid News
– Lake Placid Central School District