We had a request from a group of teachers in Missouri to hold a Camp specifically aimed at using the Shopbot in a school setting. Steve Goodman contacted a lot of teachers in the state and in spite of some pretty awful Winter weather leading up to the event we had a good turnout, with some people driving as far as 7 hours to attend.
Unlike a “standard” Camp we concentrated on the idea of HOW to integrate the machinery into both existing, and new curriculums, as well as speaking about potential sources of funding to help purchase newer machines and software packages.
We also did some “review”work in the Part Wizard software, and spoke about how to maintain a Shopbot in an environment where it would be used by many different operators.
Instead of the usual “Show and Tell”sessions we have at Camps we spoke of scenarios that different districts are facing in terms of vocational education, and the future of programs like this around the country.
Steve’s facility was excellent, and his program is pretty unique as he has focused heavily on being involved in the national NASA “Moon buggy”contest for the last few years. His school has actually won the contest a number of times, and they are currently the defending national champions! You can see an example of one of his “lunar vehicles”in the picture above.
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