2020 Spring/Summer MOMENTS

One student said, “We only had 45 minutes a day to work on the project, so it was difficult to dedicate enough time to it. It took us about a month to complete.” The students made very good use of their limited time! It was a bit of a time crunch to get it completed before the musical, but they got it done. Another described some of their challenges. He explained, “The frame and chassis of the robot was built for the original motors and setup, so when we used the improved motors, as well as the addition of servos, the mounts didn't line up where we wanted them. We had to improvise, which delayed us a bit, but we were able to create an effective setup. Another challenge was lining up the movement of the robot with the music from “Phantom of the Opera”. We had to coordinate the speed of the servos and motors with the tempo of the music. Overall, the biggest challenge was coordinating a viable solution for the robot to work, but also to make it easy to use.”

Yet another student further explained, “We used more efficient motors on the robot that were not specifically made for it, which meant we had to improvise the way we mounted the motors, because the screw holes did not align.” The new motors and servos use significantly less power than the original motors, and each character can run while plugged into a single standard 110v power outlet. Another significant improvement is that the control system now resides on a small computer board, allowing easy access to adjust the movements of the characters. Best of all, the students were able to achieve real world experience in updating outdated technology, that all Precious Moments enthusiasts will soon be able to enjoy once again! Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School Ranked Top 3% Nationwide Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School has again earned national accolades in Newsweek Magazine’s “Best STEM High Schools in America.” The entire Newsweek list of 5,000 best Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) high schools represents the top fifth of all public, private, and charter high schools in the nation.

Photos courtesy of Robert Carlson

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