Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The robots came in August.
In the midst of area-wide fair preparations, the Whitman County 4H hosted its first-ever Robotics Camp at the CETC in Colfax. Twelve kids, four teen leaders and two adult advisors spent a week building and programming robots. It was new territory for the annual county 4H adventure camp.
It all culminated in “Sumo-bot Wrestling” Friday morning.
On the last day of camp, the kids waited for the 10:45 action time. The bots were out on a table, and laptops-including three new ones from the state 4H office in Spokane-were in a line, connected to programmed Lego animals.
Farther back, behind the assembled folding chairs, a white circle with a black ring around it was out on the floor.
Anticipation built.
“Hey your mom’s here Mark!’ said one kid, as heads turned toward the windows outside.
Parents gathered, took seats and the event began.
Debbie Niehenke, Teens About Whitman County club advisor, gave the introduction, followed by teen leader Patrick Jacobs. The kids displayed their Lego robots and animated them to a children’s story, “Gruffalo,” by Julia Donaldson.
Jacobs was part of a group of high-school age 4H participants who designed the week’s program.
Soon the white circle with the black ring around it beckoned.
There, kids lined up robots to face each other and the wrestling began. Whoever’s robot pushed the other out of the circle won.
There were a few minor glitches but the friendly tournament continued.
“Don’t miss the button this time!” called out one kid, after another had to call time when he hadn’t flipped the switch on his group’s robot.
More contests and face-offs continued, as pizza arrived in the background.
“I think he dominated us,” said one kid as she walked off.
“I think so too,” said a teen leader.
“Since it’s been such a good week, we thought we’d have pizza,” Niehenke announced.
“Is it vegetarian?” asked one competitor.
Jacobs, 15, said the week went well. He and Claire Jacobs, Phil Niehenke and Liz Coen led the younger kids for the week.
The teens learned the trade in an initial threehour presentation by Dr. Tim Ewers, 4H Youth Development Specialist at University of Idaho Extension.
“It took awhile at first, but it’s pretty simple once you know how it works,” Jacobs said.
“We took the training, split it into five days and gave it to the kids,” said Phil Niehenke, 14.
Jacobs and the others helped the campers program their robots, which have light sensors designed to repel black. So when a machine got near the black rim of the sumo circle, it reversed-if it wasn’t being plowed out of bounds by its opponent.
“It was awesome,” said William Dunning, 11, in Colfax from Lewiston for the summer.
“You got to program all day.”
“I saw an ad for it on Channel 8 at my grandma’s,” said Zachary Williams, 13, of Colfax. “I said that looks like fun. I want to be (here) again next year.”
“It was a lot of fun,” said Mackenzie Boswell, 10, of Albion. “Because I like to build and I’m a tomboy. I have a lot of Legos, probably over a hundred. My little brother Dakota, he’s the only one that plays with my dolls.”
“It was very positive,” said Debbie Niehenke. “I think there will be more robotics in Whitman County. That’s our goal.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
Reader Comments(0)