KELSEYVILLE — The Lake County Office of Education”s Science Center at Taylor Observatory organized the first county-wide Robotics Workshop on Feb. 18 at its facility in Kelseyville, under the direction of Facility Coordinator Barbara McIntyre. Michael Schenck, director of technology for Konocti Unified School District, and his third-grade son Alex, who has been working with Lego robots for more than three years, helped to support the effort.
The workshop was run by members of an award-winning robotics team from Folsom, ninth-grader Akshay Rathish and 11th-grader Saiyeesh Rathish along with their father, Rathish Jayabharathi, an engineer for Intel. After nearly a decade of supporting his sons” interest in robotics, Rathish became inspired to help other robotics groups develop. He said, “Robotics is one way for kids to learn engineering concepts without knowing that they are actually learning.”
This was the first in what is planned to become an ongoing series of workshops for children and adults throughout the community. In each of the two-hour sessions, 20 students, ages 9 to 14 worked in teams. Each group included two roboticists, one laptop and one Lego MindStorm NXT 2.0 robotics kit. During the first session, facilitators provided a brief overview of robots in the world today, leading into the hands-on construction of a robot and finishing with general programming techniques.
Participants had to improvise in the construction of their robot ? gathering pieces from a huge pile of Lego robot parts. One of the many engineering skills developed in hands-on robotics experimentation.
In the second session, participants utilized these robots and programmed them to perform various goals; move in a square or triangle pattern from a series of scripted commands, move forward or backward when the sound sensor detects a loud noise and follow a line using the reflected light sensor.
The young programmers were able to “teach” their robot to follow a dark line using the reflected light sensor.
Children and adults were equally excited about bringing Legos “to life” with these fun and intriguing robotics kits. This interactive learning modality inspires interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills in a rich, experiential environment.
Children”s Museum of Art and Science (CMAS), in partnership with Konocti Unified School District, is piloting a program at Lower Lake Elementary this year.
Upper Lake High School has been working with advanced robotics concepts and programming skills for several years, with students attending state and national competitions.
Taylor Observatory has developed a strong interest in integrating robotics into core curricular areas, after-school programs, weekend and summer workshops and science camps throughout Lake County.
Several county-wide K-12 staff members were in attendance as parents, community members and interested supporters. Bill Grossner, network systems analyst of Kelseyville Unified School District commented, “My son would not stop talking about the workshop all evening long. We hit upon something that I think he would like to continue working on.”
For more information about the Taylor Observatory”s venture into the world of robotics, or to have a child added to the list of future participants, contact Barbara McIntyre at 262-4121 or via email at bmcintyre@lakecoe.org. The Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium website can be found at www.taylorobservatory.org.
