Test Track in C-Hall

When people enter C-hall, they may be surprised to see a maze on the floor. Those
going through the hall during class time might see the reason: students use the track to navigate
their robot through the maze. The students who do this are often seen typing away at their
laptops as they program their robots with lines of code.
In the C-1, Ms. Diane Halsey, provides materials to create basic robots and
programming software for the students to code their laptops, all to enhance their programming
and engineering skills. She leaves them to design their robot in order to complete the given
challenge.
Currently, they use the track to apply their programming skills by navigating their robots
through the maze using only code. Then, they try to program a controller to drive the robot
through the maze. The track is used every day by different groups in her Introduction to
Engineering class.
Each month, the mazes change and the tasks increase in difficulty. Their next challenge
is to create a claw to pick up a hockey puck and stack it onto a stand. This allows them to
practice programming and driving.
Ms. Halsey uses products from VEX Robotics since it is made for high school students.
The metals vary in shape and length with precut holes and the program they use, RobotC, is
simple enough to understand coding concepts.