4-H members build robots, learn skills

FLORENCE - When many people think of 4-H, visions of children raising farm animals, cooking or sewing come to mind.

While 4-H still offers agriculture and home economics activities, members also participate in programs laced with modern technology.

On Tuesday, 11 4-H members from schools throughout Lauderdale County built robots from Legos and then programmed the robotic tanks to maneuver their way through an obstacle course.

"This was pretty cool; it was very challenging," said Brianna Young, a seventh-grader from Waterloo School.

Brittany Daniel, an eighth-grader at Waterloo, said assembling the robots and then programming them was a fun challenge. She said she never expected to build robots in 4-H.

The robotics class was part of a program called Beat the Heat with Summer 4-H Fun.

The six-class program began earlier this month with a cake decorating class. Other sessions involved dog care, simple sewing, building a water rocket and jelly making.

Peyton Tyra, a sixth-grader at Victory Christian Academy in Florence, said the robot class is his favorite. "I've built some robots before, but never one that moved."

Janet Lovelady, an agent assistant for the Lauderdale Extension System, said the children learned mechanical, electronics, and problem-solving skills from building robots.

"They had a great time and learned a lot, too," Lovelady said. "They really had fun at the end when they were able to crash their robots into one another and have a battle of the Tankbots."

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@TimesDaily.com.