CMT volunteer Matt DeMoss provided a presentation to the Fordland (MO) Elementary Robotics Team (4 & 5 Grades) named “The BB8s” (Bot Builders 8) prior to their regional competition. For competition, students are required to bring in professionals to speak about how to improve their project.
Matt spoke about the engineering profession, how engineers study traffic as well as how they determine areas to put bridges and interchanges. Matt was blown-away by the level of sophistication of The BB8s and their great questions about bridge supports, bridge height and interchange specifics.
This year, The BB8s were required to identify a problem within their own community and develop a solution. The BB8s chose the problem of traffic congestion at an at-grade rail crossing in Fordland, MO. Interestingly, CMT’s Matt found out The BB8s had identified an issue that CMT was already working on for Webster County, MO.
The BB8s’ goals were to improve traffic flow and emergency responder access by designing a full-access interchange and rail overpass at US60/Highway Z in Fordland, MO. To present their solution at competition, The BB8s developed a presentation and a 3D model.
