Building robots at summer camp

July 25, 2008 - 07:50

By Crystal Crimi

DURHAM -- With creations such as 'Robo Dog Care 5000', there was nothing mechanical about the ideas kids came up with at Robotics Camp.

Featuring prototypes for robots to cool you down, play with animals, move things around, and even pick up pet droppings, kids wrapped up their first week of Robotics Camp on July 11 with presentations of their futuristic products at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

"It uses the light sensor to tell where the dung is," said Karen Scora, 10, while presenting her team's poop-scoop robot, The Rac.

With her partner Brooke Ashton, 11, the Whitby girls used a small rubber tire to demonstrate how their robot works.

"Just pretend this is, you know," Karen said, referring to the tire, which doubled as pet droppings. "We really didn't want to mess up this lovely table."

But, during the demonstration, the robot just missed - its scoop only skimming the side of the tire.

"It was close," Karen said.

Robots were programmed for the tile floor and were sticking to the table used during the presentations, said Sheila Rhodes, a UOIT instructor of education in charge of the camp.

"Sometimes prototypes work really well, sometimes they don't work as well as you'd like them to in a presentation," Ms. Rhodes said.

But even if they didn't work, the robots were still a success, she said.

The Robotics Camp is intended to stoke students' interest in robots, computer programming, technology, and teamwork. The software used allows kids to learn how to program and build a robot in an hour. Kits included motors, sensors, a battery and other parts.

The camp was made possible with help by the National Science Engineer Research Council, which provided a $20,000 grant for each of the camp's three years. This year, it has three one-week sessions, including an upcoming one just for girls.

Staying in character, Karen and Brooke assured Friday's parent audience that The Rac prototype would be working properly by the time it hits the market. They used a drawn set of scenes to show the difference The Rac would make for dogs walked in a park.

"The next day, someone's going to walk, not step in anything - happy days," Brooke said, clapping her hands together for emphasis and receiving laughter from the audience.

Some of the challenges the kids faced were limitations of their robots and meeting the criteria, said Billy Hanrahan, a camp counsellor and UOIT concurrent education student.

"The kids just learn a lot from problem solving," Mr. Hanrahan said. "I think they can take a lot out of this and apply it to their school."

He was surprised by how quickly they learned.

"There's more to making robots than you think there is," said Brady Doyle, 9, of Scugog. With partner Shawn Coleman, 11, of Whitby, they created the 'Carebot'.

"I liked a lot of stuff, they challenged me and really taught me stuff that was interesting," said Shawn. "Most of the stuff we did really didn't work out in the end, but I don't mind."

Brady learned to program robots and sensors.

"The touch (sensor) for when it hit the table, it would lower the arm," Brady said. An ultrasonic sensor made it lift the arm, while a sound sensor made it activate.

"To me, building's a good pastime and it's really fun," Brady said.

He's more interested in robots now, he said.

Add to your favorites Recommend : 0