Robot donated to Greater Latrobe School District

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This upcoming school year, Greater Latrobe students will have hands-on experience with coding and programming after the district received a donation of a $43,000 Universal Arm Robot from L&S Machine Co., a machine part manufacturing firm based in Latrobe.

Rob DiNardi, president of L&S, said that the company often makes donations to different programs and schools in the area.

“A lot of our people have graduated from places in the area and we like giving back to them,” DiNardi said.

L&S Manager Lauren Morlacci, an alum of the school, helped set the donation in motion. The company initially bought the arm to use in its manufacturing system, but it could not work as precisely as needed.

“We hated seeing it sit around knowing that it was able to be used for something,” Morlacci said. “There were a few possible donation places on the table, but since we’re in Latrobe and I went to Latrobe, we ended up reaching out to them to see if they were interested in the arm.”

The bot is between 3 -4 feet tall. It is known as a universal collaborative robot that will help users practice coding. The easiest operation or most common would be a “pick and place,” which is when a student programs the robot to recognize the object they want it to pick up, and where they want to set it down.

Morlacci said that it’s great for people who are new to working with robots, because while the machine requires some coding knowledge and logic to operate successfully, it remains user friendly.

DiNardi said equipment like the arm can cost as much as $100,000 and often are not within a school’s means to purchase.

“It’s too much money to spend on one thing,” DiNardi said. “(Schools) are limited in what they can buy. We want to show kids that you can make a good living without traditional college.”

The 2012 graduate said that school officials “could not have expressed more gratitude,” when they inspected the robot. Workers volunteered to drop off the machine and Morlacci remains on call if they ever need help with it.

“It’s a golden opportunity for our kids to explore hands-on activities,” said Greater Latrobe Senior High School Principal Ted Benning. “We really can’t thank them enough.”

Haley Daugherty is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Haley at 724-850-1203 or [email protected].

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