Seeing a young person’s imagination and ambition come alive is a beautiful thing. It rarely happens for a whole class, but sometimes special things happen.
In mid-January it happened at Boston Dynamics for a great group of 11th grade students from Madison Park Technical Vocational High School (MPTVHS) in Roxbury, MA.
The Students Had Some Hands-on Robotic Experience
The students from Madison Park are taking a unique STEM class called Cardinal Works. Using the RACECAR curriculum, adapted from the MIT – Beaver Works Summer Institute (MIT-BWSI), they are learning all the aspects of first building, then programming a fully autonomous small robotic car. At year’s end, it will drive itself around a complex track.
From the Classroom to an Industry Lab
Jim Sproul is a Cardinal Works instructor at Madison Park and a member of the BPS STEM Advisory Committee. Recognizing the potential student impact of seeing real-world industrial robots, and talking to the people who build them, Jim reached out to Boston Dynamics; the pioneering robotics company agreed to host a visit.
Boston Dynamics has developed dynamically stable, legged machines to the point where their flagship product, a four-legged robot called Spot, is now available for commercial purchase. They have also created, and are still perfecting, an advanced humaniod robot call Atlas. Both Spot and Atlas were part of the Madison Park experience, as the students went into the lab and spoke with robotics engineers.
“Our visit to the Boston Dynamics lab was an extraordinary opportunity for the class,” said Michael Berger, another Cardinal Works teacher. “Seeing Spot and Atlas in action was amazing and allowing the students to ‘walk’ Spot was a truly memorable educational experience.”
Kudos to Boston Dynamics
It wasn’t just the robots that inspired the students, but also the Boston Dynamics field trip host, Cassie Moreira, “ I’m so incredibly happy that we could make this happen, and I truly enjoyed the students at Madison Park. I could tell they were engaged and gave me their full attention.” Cassis said after the visit.
“The kids really resonated with her story,” explained Jim Sproul. “She went to a vocational high school, started with Boston Dynamics as a robotic technician, and is now an electrical engineer. Her enthusiasm for robotics is infectious.”
Everyone at Madison Park is deeply grateful to Boston Dynamics, and especially Cassie, for making the visit so meaningful. “The students raved about the trip,” said Dr. Sidney Brown, Head of School, at MPTVHS . “And when I walked into class the next day, I noticed the 11th graders in Mr. Berger’s class were watching the Boston Dynamics YouTube channel to learn more about robotics”.
Bring RACECAR to Your School
The Madison Park faculty and MIT-BWSI want to help bring the RACECAR Program to more students in Boston and beyond. The need for future-focused technology education is clear and RACECAR has proven itself as an outstanding way to meet that need with hands-on robotic experience.
For more details, reach out to Jim Sproul. He’d enjoy discussing your specific needs and how RACECAR can help your students prepare for tomorrow.
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