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Tonya Papanikolas reportingStudents interested in electronics and programming competed in a special competition at ITT Tech today.
The students from three high schools built and programmed their own robots, using a material you just might recognize from your childhood.
Most little kids like building things with Lego bricks, but these high school kids haven't outgrown them, either.
"It's everyone's dream to just play with Legos all day and call it actual constructive work," said Logan High School student Myles Harvell.
It is constructive. These students used a Lego kit to build robots and then program them. Michael Jonaitis, student at Juan Diego High School, said, "I didn't participate in many events at my school, then I got into this, and it was really fun. I find it really exciting."
Daniel Blakemore attends the Academy for Math, Engineering and Science. He says, "I've liked the problem-solving that goes into it, having an objective and then having parts and having to build them."
"It's fun. It's a unique way of getting into the engineering and programming side of those industries," said Shane Illingworth, an ITT Technical Institute staff member.
At ITT Tech, the students matched their robots with those from other schools in three events, including a competition where the robots had to follow a black line around the floor. It's is a battle of the strongest and fastest.
Other teams competed in the summit challenge, where robots have to climb two boxes and get to the other side. Harvell said, "We've already got everything done, and we get to sit back and watch our robots do the work and hopefully not take a swan dive off the table."
In the third event, the students have built robots that can knock 15 cups into a hole in just three minutes. "The fun of going from start to finish is the best part," said Blakemore. "Competition's just the icing on the cake!"
This is the fifth year ITT Tech has hosted the Lego Mindstorms Competition.
The school says it's a great way to get kids interested in math and programming.
