OSU STEM camp gives kids hands-on experience with robotics and coding – Enid News & Eagle

A group of sixth through eighth grade students experienced the joy and frustration that comes with building something during a robotics camp held at Oklahoma State University this week. In the process, they used STEM science, technology, engineering and math principles and learned how they can be applied in the real world.

They also got a tour of Roll 2 Roll Technologies, a sensor manufacturer located in the business incubator near Meridian Technology Center thats a spin-off of research from OSUs Web Handling Research Center.

For their main project, the 36 campers worked in teams to create their own wheeled robots from different types of kits. They also had the chance to get hands-on with other parts of the process, soldering the electronic circuit board that controls the robot and writing the code that tells it what to do.

They finished their three-day camp Thursday with a demonstration of their creations as they attempted to navigate a maze.

A team of OSU robotics campers looks on in frustration as the robot they built stops short of its goal, even after they made adjustments. But camp instructors said trial and error is part of the process.

As it turned out, some couldnt do much. But thats all part of the process too, the OSU engineering students who serve as camp instructors said. It really came down to not having enough time to perfect the code in a three-day camp.

It (coding) is a lot of trial and error, instructor Daniel Everheart said.

At the end of the day, just getting them to move proved to be a challenge. Camper Dane Vollmer celebrated by thrusting his fists in the air after finally getting it to travel a short distance.

OSU robotics camp instructor Daniel Bernardy times a robot created by a team of campers as it moves through a maze the instructors built as a testing ground.

He said the camp was fun and he would like to do something with robotics again, but it was sad when his robot didnt move the way it was supposed to.

Instructor Blake Jones said they could have done more if the camp had lasted longer than three days. The campers had access to infrared sensors that help the robot navigate, similar to the way a robotic vacuum cleaner navigates the layout of your house. Unfortunately, they didnt have time to use them.

Camper Chloe Smith said it was a good experience because she loves engineering and robotics. She also enjoyed getting to solder a circuit board.

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OSU STEM camp gives kids hands-on experience with robotics and coding - Enid News & Eagle