I'm excited to announce two STEM (or STEAM) Outreach efforts that the IEEE Richmond Section is undertaking and to invite you to get involved!

• XRP Robots for STEM Outreach
• Launch of the Richmond Institute of Technology and Science (RITS)

Combined, and individually, these are two of the largest STEM outreach efforts that the Richmond Section has undertaken.

XRP Robots for STEM Outreach

The Richmond Section, on behalf of IEEE Region 3 (Southeast US plus Jamaica), applied for and received a grant of $15,000 from IEEE to purchase and distribute XRP Robots to schools, libraries, and other non-profit groups that are involved in STEM education. All Sections throughout Region 3 will be able to participate, but the Richmond Section has been chosen to administer the program.

The eXperiental Robotics Platform (XRP) was created by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and DEKA Research and Development (the company run by the Founder of FIRST Robotics) to introduce students to robotics, electronics, and programming at a very low cost. IEEE, as an educational organization, can purchase all the parts needed for a student to assemble a complete robot for approximately $100.

The robot is completely open source and can be used by students in a wide range of grade levels. Elementary school students, for example, might use block programming to make the robot do something very simple like following a path. More advanced students might choose to program the robot using MicroPython rather than block programming. The platform is designed to be modifiable and expandable, so advanced students might chose to add new types of sensors, extra motors or actuators, or redesign the frame to better suit their application. The robot can even be used to challenge students at the university level. DigiKey, for example, has a video that explains how to add computer vision and object detection to the XRP robot using a Google Coral TPU.

So where do you come into the picture?

We need people in all kinds of roles to get involved and we need to move quickly. Our funding is only available for this year. After December 31st, any unused funds go back to IEEE.

• Are you a parent of a pre-university student? Perhaps you can reach out to their school and get the school interested in receiving some of these robots along with lesson plans describing how to make use of the robots. Connecting with schools is always a challenge for someone not already involved with a school, but schools tend to quickly respond to the parents of their students.
• Are you a web site developer? Perhaps you can help set up the website that will be used to track the usage of the robots. The more we can show that the robots are being used, the easier it will be to find ongoing funding sources after this year's grant runs out.
• Are you a software engineer? Perhaps you can develop new software add-ins for the platform. It is meant to be expanded upon by users like you.
• Are you an electronics enthusiast? Perhaps you can integrate a new sensor type into the robot so that students gain new functionality that they can make use of.
• Are you into 3D printing? Perhaps you can help us make modifications to the robot or its brackets that will enable new functionality.
• Are you a university student who needs to choose a Senior Design Project? Perhaps you and your team could take on several hardware and software tasks and create something that students around the world could make use of in the coming years.
• Are you involved in pre-university STEM education? Perhaps you can help us turn our ideas into something that is in the form that K-12 teachers need.
• Are you someone who is good at walking people through things? Perhaps you can be a resource who can help teachers and students when they run into problems.

To summarize, if you're interested in any way, we can definitely use your help. Your involvement might be just the thing that sparks a child's interest in STEM. If you want to get involved, just send an email to xrp@ieee.org and let's start a conversation.

Launch of the Richmond Institute of Technology and Science (RITS)

The IEEE Richmond Section is also participating in an effort to create a stronger STEM education system in our area through a new organization called the Richmond Institute of Technology and Science (RITS). RITS is pulling together a number of different groups in the area, including IEEE, to support STEM.

RITS is having their inaugural robotics summer camp next week. The summer camp makes use of the VEX robotics platform. This is one of the platforms that a number of high school robotics teams use. RITS will host a Launch Party at the VCU Engineering Research Building on Friday, July 19th from 3 PM until 5 PM (at the conclusion of the summer camp) to formally announce their formation and their plans for this coming school year and beyond. If you are available, you are invited to come out and see what the students have been working on and learn how you can get more involved. If you are not available but are interested in learning more about RITS, please send me an email (allen.jones@ieee.org) asking to be connected with RITS or you can contact RITS directly at team@ritsva.com.

Thanks for your involvement!

Allen Jones

Richmond Section Chair