Robots are playing an important part in the development of students at K.P. Manson Public School in Severn Bridge.

A group of Grade 8 students recently participated in the annual Robo Fair at Orillia Square Mall on April 17. Approximately 180 students and 22 schools were represented at the fair.

K.P. Manson Grade 8 teacher Derek Schofield explained students shared their own robotic creations during a morning “bring and brag” session and contributed to an afternoon challenge to build and program a robot to carry out a function at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The KP robotics team presented a functional robot clock that students built and programmed over a few weeks at school. During the challenge, students created a trash-collecting robot that could be used for cleanup during the Olympic Games.

According to Schofield, Trillium Lakelands District School Board used funds from the program enhancement fund to pilot a new Mindstorms NXT robot kit in the school. The school’s parent council also bought four new Mindstorms NXT robot kits for the class to use. The NXT is a computer-controlled LEGO brick and the brain of the Mindstorms robot. Sensors enable the robot to feel and react to its environment and respond to sight and sound.

Schofield said after students build the robot, they use the computer to program it.

The programming component calls on students to use teamwork, co-operation, problem-solving and troubleshooting to make their robot perform properly.

Schofield said robotics is a “real world application” whereby students gain an early understanding about the use of robots in the workplace, such as automotive manufacturing plants.

“We presented the robotics program to the board and I think they’re keen to get it into more schools across the board,” he said. “Robotics seems to motivate kids in a different way. It’s not the traditional mode of delivering curriculum. Other kids have witnessed it in assemblies and they can’t wait to get to Grade 8.”