From dinos to desk fans: youth build bots at Piermont Community & Technical College camp

Jul. 15—FAIRMONT — It might not look like a dinosaur yet, but one robot at this year's Maker Camp — built by Morgan Deem, 12, Brynn White, 12, and Hailey Feather, 13 — has behemoth ambitions.

Made entirely out of Legos, the soon-to-be dinosaur is already fitted with motion and color sensors. It can follow a path, spin in a circle, and even roar. Now, the team aims to "try and make something that will actually move and work along with the robot," Feather said.

"A.K.A. a dinosaur head," Deem added, holding the frame of the Lego head in hand.

The camp, held annually by Piermont Community & Technical College, allows students ages 12-16 to "learn the basics of small electronics, computer programming, design, and entrepreneurship," according to a July 12 press release.

Based on suggestions from last year's campers, Glenna Pirner — a science teacher at Pierpont who oversees the camp — settled on robotics as a theme for this year's session.

The students were provided Lego Mindstorms kits with materials to build various robots, and were also taken on field trips to Aurora Flight Sciences in Bridgeport and STOCKMEIER Urethanes in Clarksburg to see how their tech operates and more, Pirner said. Stockmeier makes "polyurethanes that are used for castings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers for industrial and sports applications," according to its website.

Some students had even taken to using their kits to build new robots they conceptualized themselves, like Noah Davis, 13, who designed a Lego tank from scratch.

Caleb Brown, 14, developed the design for a desk fan, with friend J. D. Baker helping him work through logistical challenges.

"It's just been a struggle bus," Baker said of the fan. "We've had some problems with the gears."

Pirner is proud to see the kids explore new ideas, regardless of outcome. "It's amazing to see how they can take the exact same base pieces and make something totally different out of it," she said.

In fact, the camp had already seen its successes; these robots were not the first the kids were working on.

"I think the best thing for me was Tuesday afternoon all of these students actually had a functional robot," Pirner said. This meant each child's robot successfully followed a path of painters' tape and made it to a goal without intervention.

"It was great for me to see these guys take it from just blocks of Lego to fully functioning, programmed robots," she said.

Feather said the part of camp she appreciated most was a 3D printing project where the students designed items that the library will soon 3D print for them.

For White, the camp's highlight was a project where she learned to build a website. "I thought that was fun because it's creative," she said.

Deem's favorite part of the camp was working with Legos. "You basically get to go wild and create what you want," she said.

Although Pirner is moving to Fairmont State University in the fall, she is considering returning to the camp as an assistant director next year.

In the future, Pierpont hopes to expand its summertime programming to offer camps across academic programs, from health sciences to veterinary technology to welding, Pirner said.

She added that some campers have expressed interest in pursuing technical degrees at Pierpont, and others have planned to join the military.

Through these camps, Pirner said the college is "letting kids know what we have here, and exposing them to the career paths ... that are available here in North Central West Virginia."