Suwannee County RoboDogs 4-H club has had a busy summer

The Suwannee County RoboDogs 4-H club hosted a two-day robotics summer camp at the Extension Office. Those attending the camp spent the first day building robots using the Mindstorms NXT platform. On the second day the students were given programming challenges to meet. They learned to program in NXT-G and then downloaded their programs into the same robots they built on the first day. Some of the challenges included programming the robot to respond to a touch sensor, traveling along a wall using an ultrasonic sensor, and following a line using a light sensor. The RoboDogs’ club members Ryan Burley, Tyler Carrozza, Johnathan Hallock, Erik Swart and Tineke Swart attended the camps as youth mentors.

The Suwannee 4-H RoboDogs also held their end of the year awards party this summer. The trophies were built from the LEGO field playing pieces used in the 2007/2008 Power Puzzle challenge. Each team member’s trophy contained the missions they personally mastered.

The Suwannee 4-H RoboDogs is a robotics club for students ages 8-18. For the last three years, the club sponsored a competition team that participated in First LEGO League (FLL) robotics competitions for middle school students (ages 9-14). The team builds and

programs a club robot to meet the challenges released by FLL each September. The FLL teams build season runs from September through November. The FLL team competes with other FLL robotics teams from around the state during the months of December through February. Last February the RoboDogs team advanced to state level competition hosted by Rockwell Collins and Walt Disney World at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. Out of the 52 teams competing at the state level the RoboDogs were very excited to place in the top 8 teams for best robot performance.

The details of this year’s FLL challenge entitled Climate Connections, will be released Sept. 5. The RoboDogs will begin their 4th year on Tuesday Aug. 12 at the UF/IFAS Suwannee County Extension Office. Our next meeting is Thursday Aug. 28. If there are enough students interested, the club hopes to sponsor a high school level competition team using the platform established by (US First) First Tech Challenge (FTC). For information about US First robotics (FLL or FTC) go to www.usfirst.org. For information about joining our club, call Suwannee County 4-H Agent, Brian Estevez at 386-362-2771.

Extension programs are open to all people regardless of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person needing a special accommodation to participate in any activity should contact the Suwannee County Cooperative Extension Service at 1302 Eleventh Street, SW, Live Oak, Florida 32060 or telephone 386-362-2771 at least five working days prior to the event. Hearing impaired can access the foregoing telephone by contacting the Florida Relay Service at toll-free 800-955 -8770 or 800-955-8772 (TDD).

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