Dahlgren Vol. 26, No. 7, july 2015
What’s Inside
UK Royal Navy officials visit NSWCDD
Battle of Midway, D-Day exhibits recall sacrifice, bravery
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Students take on Navy missions with STEM NSWCDD PAO Staff
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New NSFD fitness center opens
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NSWCDD laser weapon team honored
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King George - (NNS) – Teams of middle school students deployed robots they built and programmed to complete fictitious Navy missions at the Virginia Demonstration Project (VDP) Summer Academy from June 22-26. The students – and their parents, teachers, and mentors – believe that the same science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills applied to the complex scenarios will give them control over their careers, income, and potential to make a positive impact for the United States and the Department of Defense. What’s more, the sixth, seventh and eighth graders enjoyed controlling the same real-world robot used by U.S. warfighters to clear mines and ordnance in Iraq and Afghanistan. In all, 96 students took turns operating the Army Talon Ordnance Disposal Robot, mastering their skills on a robot designed to defeat counter-improvised explosive devices, or CIEDs. “It’s realistic and opens a bigger perspective on how real robots works,” said Meesam, a Stafford Middle School rising eight grader, who used the robot to inspect, collect, and dispose of make believe ordnance. The robot’s cameras transmitted four video feeds back to students as they operated the same remote controls used for the Xbox and Playstation video game consoles. Army engineers have also used the Wii game controller and iPod Touch. “Students are working on LegoMindstorm robots as part of the camp challenges,” said Greg Marsh, assistant VDP science,
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy
Students operate the Army Talon Ordnance Disposal Robot, which defeats counter-improvised exposive devises, at the Virginia Demonstration Project STEM summer academy at King George Middle School. technology, engineering and math (STEM) coordinator for the College of William and Mary STEM Education Alliance. “The Talon robot is a real world example of military equipment that students use throughout camp.” The students, however, spent most
of the week applying their STEM skills to solve problems of Navy interest at the National Defense Education Program (NDEP) sponsored event. Their mentors – 17 Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) scientists
and engineers – teamed up with 17 middle school teachers to challenge students throughout the week with scenarios mimicking real engineering problems. “To me, the most wonderful
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