Youngsters make Legos obey their commands

LEHI — Lily Keel was hoping she and her friend, Chase Maxfield, could make their robot sing while it walks.

The two youngsters had already programmed the robot made from Legos to sing three songs, but they wanted more. Maxfield transmitted the program from the laptop computer the two shared to the RCX 1.0, the "brick" that serves as the heart of the robot. He placed it on the floor and flipped the switch.

"Oh, dang it. It doesn't work!" said Keel, 11, of Orem.

Maxfield, also 11, of American Fork picked it up and went back to the laptop. Then he discovered that if he placed the robot closer to the infrared transmitting tower hooked to the computer that it programmed the "brick" faster. Perhaps better.

The two were in their fourth day with other children, ages 8 to 11, who came to Thanksgiving Point's weeklong Robotics P.R.O.B.E. Camp. The 4-H-sponsored camp teaches youngsters basic programming using Lego Mindstorms robotics kits. Some of the children have similar kits at home, but came to the $179 class to learn more about them, said teacher Corinne Mayberry.

Odysseus Quarks, 9, of Provo, is one of those kids.

"Now that I've come to this class I cannot resist Mindstorms," he said.

He and his friend, Ian Anderson, 11, were preparing their robots to race. The first test showed that Anderson's robot was a second faster than Quarks' over a distance of three feet.

"I've learned a lot about robotics," said Anderson.

The Draper resident doesn't have his own robotics kit, but he does have a set of Legos.

"This is giving me a lot of ideas about what to build and how," he said.

To make a robot go faster, Anderson learned to add motors and select the proper wheels. He also learned that wheels are faster than treads.

The junior computer programmers attended the class in the basement of the Gardens Visitor Center where they learned to program their robots to accomplish tasks, set up on hand-drawn sheets similar to board games. The challenges included tasks on a fictional, yet mysterious "Orange Planet," Mayberry said.

The kids programmed their robots to push miniature rocks made of marshmallows, navigate around make-believe "volcanoes" and "craters" and beep when they crossed dark lines representing "alien spores." In the process they learned about the solar system.

The experience is the result of a partnership between Utah State University Extension 4-H and Thanksgiving Point Institute with funding from grants from the USU Extension and the Micron Foundation.

The camp at Thanksgiving Point is one of five "Robot Camps" that Utah State University Extension 4-H offers around Utah. Other 4-H science, engineering and technology projects include Solar System Exploration, Technology Teams and GPS/GIs contests.

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E-mail: rodger@desnews.com