After a successful attempt to introduce an afterschool robotics program this year, FHS has decided to add the robotics class into the curriculum for the 2010-2011 school year. The class will be taught by Mr. Pickard, with programming assistance from Mrs. Milanovich.

Five of Freedom’s male students, accompanied by Milanovich and Pickard, attended a robotics competition in Pittsburgh earlier in the year. Juniors Matt Sherlock and Trevor Polaski got involved in the project through Milanovich’s first period IT Essentials class.

“They [Milanovich and Pickard] took a summer class on robotics and then brought their ideas to the school,” said Polaski.

Sherlock’s first place in the competition proved the test program to be a success. Although the original intent was for the students to build the robots from a book the teachers provided, Polaski and Sherlock used their own ideas instead.

“We went free-lance and used whatever spare parts we could find,” Polaski commented.

The boys agreed that the programming was the most difficult part of the process. They programmed their two robots to run on their own power for the first part of the competition.

“It took a lot of time,” adds Polaski. “We only got it right about ten minutes before the competition started.”

Although building the robots involved a lot of trial and error for the students, they did enjoy constructing the actual models.

“Matt and I sometimes spent full school days protecting, designing, and enforcing the robots so that they would perform well,” Polaski reminisces.

He also added that he is considering taking the robotics class next year; however, his participation will be largely based upon the supplies that will be provided to build the robots. Polaski says he’d like to see the class go to some bigger competitions in the upcoming years. Sherlock’s first place finish qualified him for the finals in Texas, but he was not able to attend.