A Tractor Robot Was Built

In just two days, moving the robot became easier to the students. Speed and accuracy came naturally it seemed.

Day #2: Today we trekked back to the library for day two of our weeklong workshop. So far so good. And it didn't take long to understand the challenges of learning when the power goes out--for hours at a time. Once that happened, the fans ceased blowing, the projector became useless and forget about internet service. Despite these setbacks we persevered. Below, the student instructors describe in their own words the day's experience.

Sam Paulson: After our second day with the kids it was great to be able to build on the knowledge they had already learned the day before. When they used the program I saw them going through the regular processes required to do certain things. Moving the robot became easier to them. We introduced them to true and false decision making for the robot to follow a line of red tape. Then we got them excited to work in groups to build one large, more complex robot. Eventually we were able to just sit back and let them play and learn with each other, stepping in occasionally if they asked or looked like they needed help. I’m excited for tomorrow's lessons and new complexity. ​ Rocket Otte: Our second go around with teaching we got into a more complicated build called Track3r and we taught the kids how to use a switch statement, which essentially allows the robot to make a decision based on whether a condition is filled or not i.e. True or False. We showed the kids how to make a robot roughly follow a line using a color sensor, and then let them try different ways to refine it. Seeing the excitement on their faces when they solved a problem we presented them with was incredibly rewarding and heartwarming. The children are able to apply what we taught them with unbelievable speed and accuracy.

Patrick Myslick: For the second day we began to delve further into more complex lessons like following a colored line and building a robot that surpassed the basic functions of the robot we used the previous day. To build the larger robot we split the children into groups and gave them a portion of the robot to build. Even when some kids were late to come to the class and we had already made groups the others invited them into their groups and made sure that no one was left out and everyone had a chance to contribute. Like my friends, I also noticed that the children took to grasping the concepts and building much faster than expected.  Something else I noticed was the teamwork between the children. When a child needed a part or there was something wrong with the portion they were building the other children would work together to find the part or solve the problem.