1 min read / April 16, 2020
Recently, Komatsu Mining invited local 7th and 8th grade students to compete in a Fluid Power Challenge at its facility in Franklin, Pennsylvania. This STEM activity focused on creating a hydraulic or pneumatic model to perform a specified task.
Throughout the morning, students built and tested their models. Over the course of the event, teachers and event sponsors experienced a VR demonstration that allowed them to operate an underground continuous mining machine and then toured our Product Development Test Center.
Later in the day, the teams presented their finished projects for the judges. Each team was required to lift a wooden block, move it, and drop it in a specific area. Points were deducted for dropping the block out of bounds, pushing the block, touching the models with their hands and making mid-competition repairs.
After the timed competition was completed, event scores were tallied and the winners were announced:
In addition to the team trophies, each of the 24 students received a participation medal, a competition certificate, and a Komatsu swag bag.
