Tony Dastra kneels on the floor of the hallway at Lincoln Middle School. He places a robot at the edge of black tape, and it begins a journey.

The robot has a trailer attached to it, and inside sits a hot cup of coffee from Turkey Hill.

Dastra and a few classmates place a second robot and then a third robot on the line on a recent Friday morning. The robots, which look like a miniature version of Number Five from the 1986 movie "Short Circuit," know they are supposed to follow the line.

They have a mission. They are to deliver coffee, a Danish, cream and sugar to the middle school principal, Josh Keene.

       VIDEO: Kids learn robotics

Mission accomplished.

Learning robotics has been a rewarding experience for the students,  who are in the gifted program, their teacher, Abby Alexander, says. The subject has engrossed the students so much that many have requested in the past to stay after school to have more time for robotics.

They've had fun, while learning advanced math and technology skills, Alexander said.

"It's not just building robots," Dastra, a seventh-grader, says. "It involves creativity; it involves logic. I really like this program. I really like to make stuff. It's really fun."

They are also getting a head start. The  LEGO Mindstorm robotics kits the students used are college-level, Alexander said.

"They are getting a good base of knowledge and skills for robotics or anything" else they want to pursue in the future, she said.

The gifted students, who are in sixth, seventh and eighth grades, meet three times a week with Alexander. During one of those three classes, Professor John Wright from Millersville University, who teaches automation and electronics, volunteers and guest teaches robotics.

His son, Joey Wright, is one of Alexander's students.

Wright began teaching robotics at Lincoln last school year. But this school year, the robotics evolved. The principal purchased robotics kits (total cost about $2,000), so the kids could put all their learning into motion.

Getting to the point of sending the robots on a mission took weeks.

The students overcame various steps along the way.

They played tug-of-war with the robots and discovered how the tread affects strength.

The robots also had to manage stairs.

The students created algorithms to solve problems. They translated the information into computer code, and then tested and refined everything, Wright says.

"The last two take an enormous amount of time," he says.

The robots faced obstacles. For example, the floor may look flat, but it's not. So the robots would go all over the place.

Eighth-grader Isaac Acosta says he liked finding the variables and solving the problems.

"I am just so amazed at how technology works" Acosta says. "I liked creating this and challenging myself. When things didn't work, I'd go back and try different things."

Eighth-grader Joshson Desir says, robots "are pretty exciting."

He's loved every minute of learning how to build and program the robots, he says.


Staff writer Robyn Meadows can be reached at rmeadows@LNPnews.com or 481-6025.