Starting this year, two LEGO® Robotics camps will be offered: Junior Bots and Junior Bots Challenge. This new camp, offered in August, is designed for previous Junior Bot participants or students with LEGO® experience from FLL or similar programs. This is a new opportunity to continue building on skills learned and create more complex LEGO® robots.

The LEGO® Robotics summer camp is an exploration into robotics. Students will delve into different aspects of robotics including design, construction, programming, and problem-solving. Using LEGO Mindstorms technology, students will make robots to complete various challenges like a maze, a game of tug-of-war, and a robot-sumo competition.

The activities offered in these camps will prepare students to participate in robotics programs throughout their schooling. After camp, they will be ready to participate in the FIRST® LEGO League. Once students reach high school, a good option is the FIRST Robotics Competition.

Mentors and high school volunteers from FIRST Robotics Competition Team 167 will lead the camps. They will provide a comprehensive course in beginner or intermediate robotics. No experience in robotics is required in order to participate in Junior Bots; however, students with experience are still encouraged to take part in the camp or join Junior Bots Challenge in Session 2. All equipment will be supplied by Iowa City Robotics.

The Python™ Programming summer camp introduces students to fundamental programming concepts using the Python programming language. Students will learn to apply problem-solving skills to solve programming challenges. They will work on numerous hands-on programming projects like making a grocery list app, drawing pictures with code, and writing a text-based game.

The activities offered in this camp will cover many of the same concepts present in the AP Computer Science A course, which is available at the high school level. Students who participate in this camp will have the opportunity to gain some early exposure to the concepts taught in that course.

Mentors and high school volunteers from FIRST® Robotics Competition Team 167 will lead the camp. Students are not expected to have any prior experience in programming, but students who do are still encouraged to take part in the camp. Computers and any other equipment will be supplied by Iowa City Robotics.