Automate the World: Industrial Innovation and Optimization

Imagine ordering your favorite food and watching it get assembled in seconds, not minutes, as you and your machines work together in perfect sync. From fast-food kitchens to car factories, you’ll bring world-class automation right into our classrooms as you engineer your own industrial-scale production line, pushing automation to hilarious and impressive extremes as sandwiches get slapped together faster than you thought possible. We’ll break down our end product into smaller pieces and steps, deciding how each station should automatically move, sort, or assemble objects. Using conveyor belts, sensors, and programmable robotics, Masters will optimize their material flow through the classroom system, spotting bottlenecks and changing codes to increase speed and reliability. The pressure rises on Friday’s “Code Red”, when orders start pouring in and it’s up to you, your teammates, and your machines to keep the entire system running smoothly under real demand.

Campers will:

Design an industrial production line by breaking an assembly process into stages and engineering conveyor systems that move and assemble items efficiently.
Program sensor-driven control logic that coordinates timing, detects objects, and optimizes material flow across the system.
Operate their automated line during a chaotically funny Code Red, testing throughput, fixing failures, and refining the system to handle high-speed demand.

6/12-6/16

Learning Standards:

PK.SCI.1 Exploring, Observing, and Describing the World: Children observe and describe observable phenomena (objects, materials, organisms, and events). This standard supports activities that require children to observe animal behaviors and habitats, helping them to understand different aspects of the natural world.

PK.SCI.3 Exploring Life Science: Children explore characteristics, behaviors, and changes in living things (plants, animals, and humans) and the environment. This includes recognizing how animals are adapted to their environments, which directly relates to studying animal adaptations.

PK.SCI.2 Exploring Physical Science: Children observe and describe the properties of objects and materials and the changes that occur. This can be interpreted to include discussing changes in animal behaviors and adaptations in response to environmental changes, thus supporting inquiry-based learning.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.2: Comprehend and confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. This standard supports the comprehension aspect when discussing the concepts of animal adaptations and habitats during experiments and presentations.

SEL Social Awareness: Develop empathy by fostering a deeper connection and understanding of animals and their habitats. This encourages children to consider the feelings and needs of other living beings, enhancing their emotional and interpersonal skills.