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ROBBINSVILLE: Discovering robotics

   ROBBINSVILLE — “Mine’s going to be the best,” the little boy boasted as he placed his robot into the water. He had spent the past hour diligently putting parts together to create his final product — a robot that glides quickly across the water. He excitedly grabbed the controller and prepared himself to race his robot across the kiddie pool.
   On Dec. 4, the Robbinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team 2590 Nemesis hosted RHS Robotics Discovery Day. The program aimed to teach second-through-fifth-grade boys and girls the basics of robotics while having fun.
   ”Robotics Discovery Day allows kids to learn about robots and helps them to pursue their interest in science and technology,” Robotics CEO Eric Principato said.
   Upon arrival, the campers were split into two groups. The younger, novice kids created water robots out of Legos and pool noodles while the more experienced boys and girls worked with Lego Mindstorms, a computer program to create code for autonomous robots. The kids worked in pairs with an RHS robotics team member, who was their mentor.
   The room bustled with activity all day. Forty-three enthusiastic young engineers made their own unique robots that could do many things using sensors like following a line on the ground, racing toward a wall and turning at the last moment, and even catapulting objects across the room.
   Not everything worked the first time. The young boy discovered that his robot worked in the water, but it did not go as fast as he wanted and it veered off to the side. He yanked it out of the water, grabbed some more Legos, moved some floats around, and kept testing and tweaking his design.
   The team worked hard to spread the enthusiasm of building and programming robots, and received a lot of positive feedback. One of the young programmers said, “It was fun to make the robots and to be able to control them by myself.” Another future designer said, “I like to build the robots and my favorite part was seeing if they could work.”
   To give the kids a taste of the high school level, everyone drove the team’s competition robot, Sheldon. Working with the high school robotics team ignited the spark in the future generation as they applied their knowledge to create their own designs.
   This has continued to be a great fundraising event for the award-winning RHS FIRST Robotics Team, which is going to compete at the New Jersey and Washington, D.C., regional competitions. The funds will be used to buy parts and materials for the robot and cover traveling expenses for the team.
   Contact Joy Wolfe, Robbinsville High School, 155 Robbinsville-Edinburg Road, Robbinsville, NJ 08691, if you would like to make a donation.