This summer, from July 24-28 VT-ARC hosted their first Robotics STEM camp at the Center for Advancing Science, Technology, Learning, and Engagement (CASTLE) in Chantilly, Virginia. Twenty-four seventh and eighth graders from the National Capital Region attended the camp to learn about coding and engineering and build their collaboration and communication skills; valuable abilities both inside and out of STEM fields.

The Robotics Camp utilized VEX Robotics’ EXP kits allowing students to build, code, and control their own four-wheeled, remote-controlled robot, complete with a grabbing “claw” on the front. Students began by learning how to use block coding to get a virtual robot to move, use its grabbing claw, and respond to certain stimuli. Then the students worked together in teams of two or three to build their robots and design the claw. Then, they were able to download the same coding blocks they used on the virtual robot to the physical robot to get it to work.

Activities the students engaged in with their robots included games of “robot soccer”, where teams used their robot’s claws to get a ball into a goal, and “robot freeze tag”. Students programmed a button on the robot that when it was pressed by another robot would count the number of times it was pressed, prompting the robot to “freeze.”

“One of the most valuable skills our Robotics camp teaches students is how to persevere through mistakes or failure,” said Kelsey Southard, a VT-ARC STEM Education Coordinator. “Sometimes a robot would fall apart on the ‘soccer field’ halfway through. It was so rewarding to watch them take it back to their table, fix it, and come back out. It’s important for them to challenge themselves and realize if they keep at it, they can find a solution. Failure is not the end, it’s a steppingstone to success.”

VT-ARC summer STEM camps, led by the Basic Research and Innovation and Collaboration Center (BRICC) STEM education team, have become a mainstay in the region in the last few years. Quality STEM camps can be expensive propositions for the region’s parents, but VT-ARC’s free STEM camps can provide students with engaging, educational experiences to which they might not otherwise have access.

Originally Published: August 31, 2023