Robots reboot at Pittsfield

Just under 30 kids gathered to take part in the first meeting of the 2010 Pittsfield Elementary Robotics Club (P.E.R.C) run by parent volunteers Jim Carroll and Dirk Mayhew.

These two dads are leading the group of 3rd, 4th and 5th graders into the world of science and exploration. The cool gadgets bring the kids in -- it's a fully-subscribed enrichment program. As the weeks progress, programming and operating the robots keep the kids coming back.

Parent volunteer Jim Carroll, EMU Dept Head of Physics and Astronomy, introduces students to a world of science and engineering at Pittsfield Elementary Robotics Club (P.E.R.C.).

Farnham | Contributor

Carroll sees the Pittsfield Robotics Club as an opportunity for students to meet and work with a scientist and an engineer, people working with science every day. Head of the Department Physics and Astronomy at Eastern Michigan University, he has one son at Pittsfield and another at Scarlett. He got involved in the club when his older son was an elementary student.

"The students are learning real-world applications of math, physics, computer programming, and engineering in a fun and exciting environment", he explains while collecting P.E.R.C. ID badges left behind by the students. Carroll and Dirk Mayhew are wearing them too.

Mayhew, a General Motors Engineer, smiles and remarks on the gender split in the group as the morning bell rings. "It's split almost right down the middle - 50-50 girls and boys." A father of three daughters, Mayhew and his wife Charlotte established the club three years ago, sponsored by Pittsfield Media Specialist Joyce Followell and funded with grant money from the Ann Arbor Education Foundation and Pittsfield PTO. It's expanded each year, introducing more girls and boys to the hands-on applications of science from late-winter through to the end of the school year.

What will these robots be doing? After a lot of testing, different robots will do different things, Carroll explains. "Ideally, the robots will be programmed to navigate through a terrain, locate obstacles to explore or avoid, climb up and down hills, detect different soil compositions and possibly determine the position of the sun in the sky in order to point the solar panels."

Early demonstrations by the club are planned for Family Math and Science Night on March 25th at Pittsfield - an evening of math games and science experiments - sponsored by The Pittsfield Grange. There is a lot more to look forward to down the road for these junior scientists and their robots.

On this first day, however, the tasks are more basic. The kids have assigned robot names. Finder, Blast, Titanic, Icon, Fierce, Discovery and Icicle make up the 2010 P.E.R.C. robot contingent: ready to take these young explorers on a scientific adventure.

Ann Farnham is a mother of two, community volunteer, and personal organizer living in South Ann Arbor. Follow her at Ann of Ann Arbor.