Career and Technology Education Robotics Program at Ranchview High School 2012

The Robotics program at Ranchview High School, taught by Leon Friedrich, is part of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STME) cluster and a program of Career and Technical Education (CTE).

The Robotics class was newly added in the 2011-2012 school year to expose Junior and Senior students to the practical application of math and science.

Students use the LEGO Mindstorms NXT Education Software to program the robots, controlling the movement forward, reverse and turning movements, as well as onboard cameras, tactile perimeter detection and photo receptors. Individual students and student teams test their programming skills by setting the robots on tracks to gauge how they perform. The real time problem solving allows students to tweak their programming when a robot does not respond or perform as expected.

Currently, there are approximately 8.6 million industrial and service robots being world-wide and the industry grows at a rate of 30% per year.