For Good Measure

 

 The Website needed a little more shotgun.

 And just for fun, some AK too:

 

 This is how we play where I come from :)

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S.E.E.K. - Kids & Robots

 

Training Tomorrow's Technicians

This summer I had the privilege of working with my dad, Ed Olson, in a program called S.E.E.K. (Summer Educational Experiences for Kids) to teach kids about robotics. We had two classes of about 16 kids each; the younger class at 7-9 years old and the older kids at 10-12 years. The task of the younger class was to make wall-hugging robot mice that used a two-way electronic switch to navigate it's way along a wall, the older class got to use Lego Mindstorms robot kits to design and program their own robot to make it through an obstacle course. It was an amazing experience that taught both me and the kids a lot - we helped them understand how robots really function and what their real-life purpose is, and encouraged them to have fun learning some useful (and might I add awesome) technical skills. Now if I can incorporate our teaching method into a game sometime in the near future...

My dad is, not to brag or anything, but probably the coolest dad ever. He is a retired rocket scientist (no kidding), now working as the program manager for the Integrated Systems Training Center at Cheyenne's local college. In his 'spare' time he, as seen here, teaches kids how to build robots, provides essential college life support for his oldest daughter (me),  coaches his youngest daughter through life as a 4th grader, pwns n00bs in CoD4, and attacks the unending project of home improvement. You rock Dad.

Here one of our kids watches hopefully as his robot does it's best to maneuver the obstacle course. There was a lot of trial and error involved, and it was inspiring and chuckle-inducing to see that "I've got it!" moment in their eyes every time they solved a new setback.

As a coder at heart, my biggest task with the older kids naturally fell to helping them program their robots. The Mindstorms development kit has a pretty sweet programming set-up. The GUI is made of blocks (following lego tradition) that the kids can connect in order to give their robot autonomous capabilities. They got to learn about some pretty advanced coding concepts like if statements and loops, and they took to it like SCV's to a mineral pile. Kids are smart.

Bonus!! I got to make robots. Way cool. 

Add to the geek repertoire that I've made a circuit board.

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@JM


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A Personal Accomplishment

Tomorrow is my first anniversary with Jesse :)

A happier girl you'll never find - my present is having
him all weekend after 4 months of not seeing him at all.

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