Robotic rivalry
A group of Lake County girls traveled to Chicago to watch metal compete alongside metal.
Members of the YWCA of Lake County recently held a friendly competition against the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago to match robots the girls built and programmed.
"I enjoyed the excitement of racing against others," said 11-year-old Bridgett Riverol of North Chicago.
The competition was part of a program offered by both YWCA chapters called TechGYRLS.
The focus of TechGYRLS, geared to girls ages 9 to 14, is to broaden knowledge and raise their confidence in fields such as science, technology, engineering and math, said Gina Copen, director of youth and school age programs.
"We want them to have no fear of not being cool or attractive because you're interested in science," Copen said.
After communicating with the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, which first worked with the robots, Copen said both chapters came up with the idea to hold a friendly robotics competition.
The YWCA of Lake County received a donation from Siemens Corporation to buy Rockit and Kranius robots, both made by Omnitron Electronics.
The Kranius operates as girls program it to follow specific commands. The Rockit robot operates by sound to make it move. If the robot comes in contact with an object or hears a loud noise, the robot automatically reverses and turns left before taking a new course.
Fifteen girls from Lake County signed up to work with the robots, Copen said
"It took a few days to put together each robot. There were several hundred pieces," she said.
Precious Mays, 13, of North Chicago, said while she likes building, it was frustrating to assemble the robot because some pieces were small.
The girls were then taught to program the robots incorporating sound, light and touch to navigate an obstacle course.
Copen said the girls were intimidated to pursue this task. But once they watched their robots race, they began to laugh and enjoy what they accomplished.
"When the robot was done, they were able to make it come alive, which was phenomenal," she said.
A big part of their success was teamwork.
"We all supported each other. It was a good feeling knowing someone was supporting you," Bridgett said.
At the competition, the girls had to program the robot to sprint from one end of a track to another. Then the girls designed a course the robots were programmed to navigate. The team whose robot navigated the course successfully won.
Precious said the robot she designed stopped working at the beginning of her first and only race. But that did not bring her down.
"I kept a smile on my face and cheered my teammates on," Precious said.
Copen said the competition was not about winning or losing. In fact, no scores were taken. The ultimate outcome was the girls brought robots to life and built their self esteem in the process.
"Even given a task that seemed something not capable to do, they were able to complete it. It was fun and it was successful, whether they win or not," she said.