Calhoun County 4-H team wins 4 awards at Robotic Challenge held at the Science Center of Iowa

The Calhoun County Tech Team gets their robot ready to compete at the 4-H Robotic Challenge at the Science Center of Iowa on Saturday, February 20th. (Photo submitted)

By Jill Mims
On Saturday, February 20, seven 4-H members of the Calhoun County Tech Team known as the Mechanical Mindstormers participated in a 4-H Robotic Challenge at the Science Center of Iowa. The challenge was held in conjunction with the 4-H Foundation Gala event. Six teams from across Iowa participated in the challenge.

When teams arrived at the Science Center, they were given two challenges and four hours to complete them. The first was to build and program a robot using the LEGO Mindstorm NXT kit. The robot was to take a ball that represented a planet through a wormhole, maneuver through an asteroid field and release the planet into the orbit of the new solar system. Points were given for completing the obstacle course in the shortest amount of time, for not touching any asteroids, and for releasing the planet into orbit.

The second challenge was to build a robot using common household items that could draw a line. Points were given for the length of the line they were able to draw in a one minute time frame.

In addition to the robot challenges, the team had an interactive display, they talked to Science Center patrons about 4-H, and got kids involved by having them build their own robots out of marshmallows.
“Not only are the kids gaining knowledge about robots and how to program them, they are learning a lot about teamwork” said Jill Mims, Calhoun County Youth Coordinator and team coach. “Sometimes it takes more than one person to solve a problem just like it does in the real world. They are learning how to respect everyone’s input and opinion.”

The team worked very hard and received four awards: the 4-H Engineering Award, the Creative Solution Award, the Interactive Exhibit Award, and the People’s Choice Award.

Members of the team who participated in the 4-H Robotic Challenge include
Taylor Duncan
Olivia Hanlon
Jane Kipp
Ben Kolbe
Kjersti Olson
Tiffany Poen
Kennedy Stern.

The team, coached by Tom Duncan and Jill Mims was sponsored by:

Calhoun County Community Foundation
Rockwell Collins
Champion Chrysler Center- Rockwell City
Security Saving Bank- Farnhamville
United Bank of Iowa- Lohrville
Farmers Lumber Coop- Farnhamville
Lohrville Locker- Lohrville
Mark’s SuperValu- Lake City
Tony’s Steakhouse- Farnhamville
Vosberg Enterprises- Farnhamville
Wilkins NAPA Parts- Lake City.

If you would like to find out more about FIRST LEGO League and other exciting science and technology opportunities in 4-H, please contact the ISU Extension- Calhoun County Office at 712-297-8611.






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