For one week in July, Todd Brown, technology education teacher at Solanco High School, hosted a summer robotics camp. Over 40 students between grades four and seven attended the camp. "The turnout was wonderful for it being the first time we ever did something like this," noted Brown.

At the camp, students learned the basics of robotics and coding principles and then used this foundation to solve real-world robotic problem scenarios. One of the problems that the students were asked to solve involved an autonomous driving robot and gave students an idea of the challenges that Tesla, Uber, and Google are facing with their self-driving autonomous vehicles. Another challenge the students encountered was to develop a robot that can pick up an object from a certain location and place the object into a box. This project was similar to a robot that Amazon uses to pick items in its warehouse and prepare them for shipping.

"I was amazed at how in-depth and complex the students got," recalled Brown. "They did research and brought in their own ideas. The initiative they took was inspiring."

The camp aimed to introduce students to basic coding principles that can be used in a variety of coding languages, expose students to robotics and autonomous technologies, and create and encourage excitement toward technology, innovation, and STEM learning.

"We have a certain population that misses out on summer camps because they're not involved in sports, so I asked myself, 'Why don't we have an academic camp?'" said Brown. "I hope that the seeds planted during the robotics camp will grow over the years, and I'm excited to see where they go."

Solanco High School students Kyle Fisher, Adam Noel, and Trent McDowell served as mentors for the duration of camp. "The mentors did a fantastic job of helping out," stated Brown.

Brown noted that he hopes robotics camp will return every summer.