PSU robotics camp hooks kids on science

There’s a saying among advertisers that the goal is to hook people when they’re young.

A far less dubious undertaking, but with a bit of the same theory involved, is Pittsburg State University’s Adventures in Robotics camp, a two-week event geared toward getting young students hooked on science through robots.

The camp is a series of hands-on workshops for children conducted each summer by Pittsburg State faculty. Children must be 9 years old by July 1 in order to enroll, with a recommended upper limit of 13. All sessions are held in the laboratories and facilities of the Kansas Technology Center on the east side of the Pittsburg State University campus.

During the camp, participants learn about concepts such as teamwork, programming, brainstorming, construction techniques, robotics basics and electromechanics. They use Lego Robotics kits to built robot vehicles that can be programed.

Last week was for beginners, and groups of participants designed and built robots to compete in robot sumo wrestling. This week is for more advanced topics.

This year, organizers planned the course a little differently, said Randy Winzer, who oversees the camps. Usually, at the end of the first week, the participants dismantle the robots they built during the first week. This year, though, they left them assembled and will again use them for robot sumo.

“We teach them to learn to think like engineers, to think ‘What do we need to change and why?’” Winzer said. “If they make changes, they then need to test those changes. It’s like basketball; if you’re pushing off to shoot with your left foot and your coach makes you switch to pushing off with your right foot and your shooting percentage goes down, what do you do? You go back to your left foot.”

The 17 kids competed in 6 teams, and they lose points if the robots lose pieces. Nine-year-old Ruby Boswell came from Colorado Springs, Colo., to visit her grandparents, Penny and Jim Armstrong, and also to participate in the camps. Her brother, Webb, also participated in the camps, and when he aged out, the faculty let him participate as a mini mentor.

“It’s cool,” Boswell said after practice Monday morning. “You get to design and build your own robots and be creative about what you make. And I like electronics.”

Armstrong said she’s a big fan of the camps and thinks they’re great for her grandchildren.

“It’s fantastic,” she said. “They learn good teamwork and sportsmanship, and they just love it. Last week they learned about how motors work, and this week they put it all together using principals and prototypes.”

Boswell said she was enjoying herself, too.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I want to come every year.”

Timothy Berry’s grandmother, Cheryl, drives him the 100-mile round trip from Jericho Springs, Mo., every day to attend the camp. His mother graduated from PSU in 2008 with a degree in mechanical engineering and thought he might like the camp. He said she was right.

“We get to do Legos, and I like Legos a lot,” Berry said. “Plus, it has to do with robots, so you take two of my favorite things and there you go. It’s fun and I like working with my team. We floated lots of ideas. It’s a lot of fun.”