Photo By Melissa Buckley | Bentley Holcomb, a third-grade member of Wood Elementary School’s Robotics Club,...... read more read more
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Students from the on-post Wood Elementary School Robotics Club spent part of their Friday last week with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Soldiers, learning how the Army uses computer science and engineering in the robots it fields.
According to 1st Sgt. James Bohanon, with the 763rd Ordnance Company, the Soldiers enjoyed spending the morning with the 11 students in the club, ages 9 to 11. The company based at Fort Leonard Wood is part of the 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 71st Ordnance Group, at Fort Carson, Colorado.
“They were all well behaved and were excited to learn about and drive each robotic platform,” Bohanon said. “One of our main missions is to teach, so this gave us an opportunity to practice instructing.”
During the visit, the students were given the chance to operate three common robotics systems, including the CRS-Individual, Talon 5A and CRS-Heavy. The Soldiers set up tasks for the students similar to the exercises used to train Soldiers, Bohanon said.
“The children had to maneuver around obstacles, pick up objects and then place the objects in a container,” Bohanon said.
No surprise to Bohanon, the students learned to use the controls very quickly.
“Due to their experience playing video games, kids or younger adults usually pick up on it pretty quickly,” Bohanon said.
Fourth-grader Raylon Albrecht said his favorite robot was the CRS-H, because it was the biggest one.
“They were really cool, but harder than I expected to drive. I was pretty good at it, though,” said the 9-year-old.
Albrecht said he likes being part of his school’s robotics club because he has been interested in robots for as long as he can remember. He said getting to spend time outside the classroom learning about the Army’s EOD robots was “really fun.”
“I’ve always liked robots. This just kind of helps me to open up my dreams. I like learning about all of the parts and their capabilities,” Albrecht said.
Wood Elementary Robotics Club Facilitator, Saralice Campbell, said it is good for her students to see that robots are not just toys.
“They see it on a smaller scale in robotics club, but robots actually have jobs; they are not just to play with. They serve a purpose and solve problems,” Campbell said.
The Wood Elementary School Robotics Club was created to foster communication skills, creativity, critical thinking and teamwork, according to Campbell. She was thankful the Soldiers took time out of training for her students.
“It gets the students off their (electronic) devices and allows them to have real-world fun while putting their skills to use,” Campbell said. “It also gives them the opportunity to start exploring career options.”
While the club members were there to learn about the EOD robots, Bohanon took the opportunity to teach them about unexploded ordnance, too.
“Another of our missions is responding to explosive hazards off post,” Bohanon said. “We showed them some examples of UXOs and taught them about the 3Rs of explosive safety — recognize, retreat and report.”
| Date Taken: | 04.14.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.25.2023 14:13 |
| Story ID: | 445576 |
| Location: | FORT LEONARD WOOD , MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 28 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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