MCH Robotics Club
MCH has taught introductory robotics as part of our K-5 STEM curriculum for the past 5 years, and some of our Upper Elementary students progress to advanced robotics work. Our students love designing, building, and testing all sorts of robots.​
In 2024, we launched our MCH Robotics Club, competing in the prestigious FIRST Lego League robotics tournament (and taking 1st prize in Robot Design!). ​
The club is open to our Upper Elementary students (grades 3- 5), and in 2025 we also launched a Middle School team for our alumni. Students who are not part of the competitive team may still participate in the club.
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In the FIRST Lego League competition, our students have to design, build, and program an autonomous-driving robot that completes "missions" on a themed game table.
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They also have to complete an "Innovation Project," which is a comprehensive science-project in which the team has to design an innovative solution for a real-world problem in the field of science related to the yearly theme.
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In the 2025-26 competition year, the theme is archeology!
Marvels Innovation Prototype Working!
This year's FIRST competition theme is archeology. Our Middle School (alumni) team has built a vibratory excavation digging tool to take the manual labor out of excavating shovel test pits and test units while preserving the soil's stratigraphy and the ability to perform contextual analysis. They used TinkerCAD software to design Lego-compatible sharp digging blades, and printed them on our MCH printer. The digger vibrates to dig down, and then the motorized tamber door closes all the way underneath the bottom of the digger, trapping the entire chunk of earth inside. It can be removed and released for analysis nearby while the digger works on the next area. Congratulations to the Marvels for getting this prototype working! It took more than 20 iterations on the design! This video shows how it works, and the team also has it working in sandy loam.
Here is the first test working in sandy loam! During the first test, it excavated to a depth of 1-2 cm.
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Since archeologists often excavate only a few cm at a time, the Marvels' goal is to get their digger to dig down to the stoppers visible on the sides of the unit.
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Next step, more power! They have a plan for more good vibrations, so stay tuned :)
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