LOS LUNAS Math and engineering concepts come alive students say, when they use them to build robots.

The Valencia County Home School Robotics Teams used simple engineering plans and equipment to build robots they will compete in the Kirtland Air Force Research Laboratory La Luz Academy Robotics Challenge on March 2.

The three home-school teams are the Transformers, Big Hero 3 and The Ohm Schoolers.

Ive had an amazing experience in robotics, said Amanda Sparks with the Transformers team. Ive made new friends and broadened my mind in many different subjects.

In final preparation for the robotics competition, each team gave a presentation and demonstrated their robots abilities last week at the Community Bible Church in Los Lunas.

The Transformers robot, Opie, a small, boxy BOE-Bot with whiskers, was programmed to change course when its antenna touches an obstacle.

When the whiskers are pushed, it sends a message to the servos (individual motor) that it needs to move back and turn a different way, explained Elizabeth Schatzinger.

It looks a lot easier than it is, but once youve figured out the basics, you can perform the other tasks, added teammate Amanda Sparks.

Sometimes what we program does not turn out how we want it to but using our math skills, we can figure out the problem and fix the program, she said.

Sparks learned a surprising number of new math skills she said, and teammate Max Kiehne said its about learning computer programming language.

In the beginning, I learned about binary, which before this class I thought was really hard to learn, but then I learned the basics and I found its a lot simpler than most people probably would think, Kiehne said.

Only the top scoring 30 teams out of 80 statewide will go on to the Robotics Challenge. Along with the home-schooled teams, there are seven teams from Valencia Middle School and 12 teams are being hosted at Peralta Elementary School.

The La Luz Academys science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, educational outreach program is available free to any New Mexico public, private or home-school grades 5-12.

The home-schooled seventh-and eighth-graders have been participating in a weekly robotics class since September 2016.

What I once thought to be random letters and numbers turns out to be an amazing and intricate method of communication between us and the robot, said Rebekah Sparks from the Big Hero 3 team, which also includes Allison Storch and Timothy Schatzinger.

Their robot, Baymax, knows when to move and when to turn on the obstacle course. To enable their robot, the team measured the course with a tape measure, used a calculator they created using Excel to convert inches or centimeters to counter, which is a measure that robots use, the students said. Different numbers equal different distances in counter.

Schatzinger said he wasnt crazy about robots when he started the program but now he is a lot smarter, especially in math where he learned binary. Binary uses only ones and zeroes to calculate the numbers for counter distances and other computer programming.

I dont think (robots) are going to rule the world anymore because they cant even learn how to go through a blue course until we program them, Schatzinger said inciting laughter from the audience.

Students stretch their minds to solve the engineering problems that arise in programming robot functions.

Hands-on experience helps a bunch, said Emma Kennington, of the Ohm team. Being able to test it, you know you have understood it when you can get your robot to work the way you want it to.

The objective of the AFRL La Luz Academy educational outreach program is to raise student interest in pursuing STEM related studies and career paths. The program also seeks to involve student participants from groups traditionally under-represented in STEM fields, including females and minorities.

The program is available free of charge. The only requirement is that a teacher come forward with a willingness to teach the classroom based programs, Mars Mission, Robotics Challenge, and STEM Challenge or agrees to coordinate student scheduling for the experiences held on KAFB. All teachers are provided with training and resources to carry out class assignments. There is no grant proposal or application. For more information, visit the website at afrlnewmexico.com/afrl-la-luz-academy or call 846-8042.

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Home-schooled students studying robotics - Valencia County News Bulletin