CRESTVIEW — Sean Peavley’s programmers had his instructions almost perfect. His sensor and actuator were working, but a programming error left him about 4 feet shy of his goal.
Sean and several other students in Antioch Elementary School third-grade teacher and science chair Laura Pink’s class became “robostudents” Jan. 29 under Eglin Air Force Base engineer Jason Foley's guidance.
See photos of "robostudents" at Antioch Elementary School>>
Antioch received two robots in September through grants, but the school lacks funding for teachers' robot training, Pink said.
Enter Plan B: Under Foley's instruction, groups of three or four kids write lines of “code” to “program” a member to walk from his or her desk to a table up front and pick up a pencil.
Another group member functioned as the student’s sensors and actuator, the internal — or in this case, external — motor that converts programming data into a robot’s movements.
While Jourdan Hung’s programmers were successful in having him reach and grasp the pencil, they forgot to tell him to stand up and then programmed too many reverse steps, causing him to back into a desk.
The kids learned that it often takes many tries and lots of trial-and-error in real life to debug programming code.
Lee Akers, who wants to be an engineer, was enthused that his group’s robostudent, Sean, got so close to his goal. Debugging would be a simple matter of adding a few more steps.
The he said something that shows how far students have come with technology in the classroom.
“In first and second-grade I learned some programming and I know how to make AI,” Lee said, referring to artificial intelligence.
Later, Foley helped the Aviators program Lego robots used in competition between classes and schools.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Robostudents: Eglin engineer teaches Aviators robotics with themselves as robots