The Knoch Middle School teams did a fantastic job building their robotic arm that would pick up and move an object, using fluid power. Although they didn't win, the teams were successful in their creations. The teams met and prepared for the competition for six weeks. Knoch Team #1 consisted of Carter Manzer, Melanie Mitchell, Brady Bleicher, and Kade Sundie. Knoch Team #2 consisted of Liam Avon, Jack McCool, Abbie Trout, and Carter Beres (who was not able to attend the competition but helped prepare for it).
Background: 2023 NFPA Fluid Power Challenge and Workshop Days hosted by Komatsu Mining Corp.
The competition allows teams of 7th and 8th grade students the opportunity to experiment, design, and build their own fluid power model, using wood, cardboard, glue, syringes, tubing, power tools, etc. On March 28, students learned about fluid power, safety, and future career opportunities. Each team received a kit of tools and had the opportunity to build a pneumatic lifter model and a rotating platform model using detailed instructions and pre-made kits. Teams received take-away kits of building materials to use for constructing their unique model. Teams had 6 weeks to design & build a model to solve the challenge problem. On May 9th, student teams presented their models in front of a panel of judges.
Way to go, KMS!