NewsUpper SchoolAcademicsTechnology
Robotics rule for Darlington students
Jan 13, 2009 12:00 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Written by Kevin Myrick, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer, published 1/13/09
It's hard to think of Legos as anything but a child's toy, so making them into working robots may seem impossible.
With the help of their science teacher Owen Kinney, four Darlington School students recently participated in a competition hoping to help make the world a better place through the construction of robots and a science project looking to reduce carbon emissions.
Kinney, who teaches environmental sciences at Darlington, coached his son Ian, along with Garrett Miller, Anna Katherine Cates and Addie Holmes, all 10 years old, to second place in teamwork during the competition in Atlanta and 14th overall in the B.E.S.T. Academy First Climate Connections Challenge.
"Part of the competition was a science project," Kinney explained. He said the students had to complete the science project, then also had to program the Lego Mindstorm NXT robots to perform a number of tasks, from moving items around the board to solving puzzles, in under two and a half minutes on a prelaid vinyl mat made to look like a town.
"You have to build different attachments to make everything work," Ian said. "Most Legos just sit there, and you sit and play with them. These are cool because they come alive."
It took two-and-a-half months working one day a week for the team to get ready for the competition, but Addie and Anna Katherine thought the hardest work came from the climate challenge -- or science project -- that was the first half of their competition.
"They saved us by putting together the presentation," Kinney said. "It was very much them doing all of the work and we just watched."
Anna Katherine said the team devised a plan to reduce carbon emissions by getting students and parents to work together in car pooling, and said they saved 1,121.25 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions in one day.
"It kind of shows it doesn't take much to get the community and school involved in a project," Addie said. "But it was a real mystery in what we were getting ourselves into."
The team plans on participating again in 2009, with transportation being the theme of the new challenge. Kinney said his team would be ready, just as soon as their new vinyl mat comes.
It's hard to think of Legos as anything but a child's toy, so making them into working robots may seem impossible.
With the help of their science teacher Owen Kinney, four Darlington School students recently participated in a competition hoping to help make the world a better place through the construction of robots and a science project looking to reduce carbon emissions.
Kinney, who teaches environmental sciences at Darlington, coached his son Ian, along with Garrett Miller, Anna Katherine Cates and Addie Holmes, all 10 years old, to second place in teamwork during the competition in Atlanta and 14th overall in the B.E.S.T. Academy First Climate Connections Challenge.
"Part of the competition was a science project," Kinney explained. He said the students had to complete the science project, then also had to program the Lego Mindstorm NXT robots to perform a number of tasks, from moving items around the board to solving puzzles, in under two and a half minutes on a prelaid vinyl mat made to look like a town.
"You have to build different attachments to make everything work," Ian said. "Most Legos just sit there, and you sit and play with them. These are cool because they come alive."
It took two-and-a-half months working one day a week for the team to get ready for the competition, but Addie and Anna Katherine thought the hardest work came from the climate challenge -- or science project -- that was the first half of their competition.
"They saved us by putting together the presentation," Kinney said. "It was very much them doing all of the work and we just watched."
Anna Katherine said the team devised a plan to reduce carbon emissions by getting students and parents to work together in car pooling, and said they saved 1,121.25 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions in one day.
"It kind of shows it doesn't take much to get the community and school involved in a project," Addie said. "But it was a real mystery in what we were getting ourselves into."
The team plans on participating again in 2009, with transportation being the theme of the new challenge. Kinney said his team would be ready, just as soon as their new vinyl mat comes.
