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A proud moment I had to share.... — Parallax Forums

A proud moment I had to share....

pacmanpacman Posts: 327
edited 2012-04-20 21:22 in General Discussion
Just had to share this with you...

My 8 yr old daughter has joined robotics club at school...

1) She is the youngest member in the club (in it's current user base)
2) She is the FIRST EVER girl to be a member.

Makes me a very proud dad.



She now wants a 'real' robot kit for for her birthday in August, so if anyone has any of those Penguin robots sitting about gathering dust they would like to sell, please PM me

Comments

  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-04-20 18:22
    That's great! Congratulations! Now she'll have to have her own forum account, too. :)

    -Phil
  • davejamesdavejames Posts: 4,047
    edited 2012-04-20 19:35
    ...very cool!

    :thumb:
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-04-20 20:21
    Fantastic news and congrats to the new roboticist and her proud papa!

    I am reminded of Cal, the stuffy rich guy in the movie "Titanic" who said of his fiance Rose, "Women and machinery do not mix." Horsefeathers! When ladies take their machinery seriously, they are just as good as the guys. More power to her!
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-04-20 20:32
    How exciting!! Congrats!

    My daughter, at 10, is mildly hooked on robotics. I need to find something to push her over the edge. She's been having fun with the mini-sumobots lately. I think it's the crashing and pushing more than the robotics at this point.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2012-04-20 20:46
    That's great!
    Mind if I ask you, and the others here with kids in robotic clubs, what do they use for robots?
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-04-20 20:51
    EA,

    The clubs around here are LEGO centric. They are heavily into the LEGO NXT at the schools and the 4-H for the younger kids. In general, our schools are mostly involved in the FIRST competitions if they have clubs.

    I want to start with some home-built stuff but it's hard to compete against LEGO and FIRST.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2012-04-20 21:18
    mindrobots wrote: »
    EA,

    The clubs around here are LEGO centric. They are heavily into the LEGO NXT at the schools ....

    I was afraid you would say that. Because there was a robotic vacuum present in my community, I had just started teaching some kids about the Boe-Bot and had envisioned graduating them to the Propeller, with which we would all be building vast robotic armies to conquer the world in a few years, but just a couple days ago the science teacher announced they would be starting a robotic club for the first time and they would be using LEGO, and I had to fake a smiling "Oh, that's great" when in reality I felt like launching into a rant about how overly expensive all that LEGO stuff is, how limited it is, how bland, etc. But I guess we should all feel lucky the school system is doing something rather than nothing, especially in light of so many budget cuts, etc.

    Anyway, I've been feverishly trying to find out how NXT can be hacked, enhanced, etc. so I can get Basic Stamps and Propellers into the mix. Personally, I think it's essential for kids to see technology in the raw, to see what's under the hood, so to speak. LEGO stuff is too tidy, too prissy, too pre-packaged, too pre-chewed, too pre-pablum-ated. I think kids get a kick out of things that don't look like just another plastic thingy from Toy R Us. And just another plastic thingy is what NXT looks like to me. The educators keep wondering why kids aren't so interested in science and technology - but I think part of the problem is all this "educational" stuff looks like everything else they're used to seeing in their lives, and it seems to have no soul. It's just too Disneyland or Shopping Mall to fire their neurons. Gotta find some way to mount erco's flame thrower to one of these NXT yawners.
  • codevipercodeviper Posts: 208
    edited 2012-04-20 21:22
    I agree but it needs to be fun too.
    the balance is tricky.
    that's why the electronics club the collage I go to might let me start will use the prop.
    its that right mix of flash and dazzle as well as form and function you rarely see.
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