Spheros, Spheros, EVERYWHERE!
by Mackenzie Bollinger, Cosmetology Class of 2025
Have you seen robots rolling around in the halls? First, you hear the “Whirrrrr”; then you see a small metal and plastic orb with color-changing LED’s. That is followed closely by the student controlling it with a special app. It’s SpheroBolt season at LCCTC!
Mrs. Brown’s Intro To STEAM class was recently introduced to the bots. The class – while teaching the students about science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics – is entirely hands-on. The test for each student lies in the projects they create as a team.
The robots use Bluetooth technology to connect to students' phones or Chromebooks using an app to control them. The SpheroBolts are also equipped with a durable waterproof shell to keep them safe in the classroom and feature color-changing LED’s so students can personalize their robot through the app. A magnetometer measures the direction, distance, and speed the bot travels and brings in lessons in science and mathematics.
There are many ways for the students to control the robots. Including a joystick, block programming, typing commands, drawing commands, and a program in which students can use their phones as a putter and the SpheroBolt as a golf ball.
These robots are a fun, hands-on way to learn about coding and art! STEAM students created a mini golf course and programmed the robots to navigate the course.
One student, Alexandra Birdsall (senior Restaurant Trades), states, “I had so much fun with the activities, and while we created the bot, it was good to bond with my class!”
Another student, Karizma Brown (senior Restaurant Trades), laughs, “It was a lot of fun! I’m not very good at driving it – yet, but I plan on improving with practice.”
“I just like making them roll,” shares Josiah Wojciechowski (senior Computer and Office Technology) as he steers his SpheroBolt into an English class. “Programming it was sort of like what I do in my shop so it seemed pretty easy, but now I can get to work with it hands-on.”
Project-based assessment makes the lessons more approachable and less stressful because the pressure of numerical grades is taken away. The class still has grades except instead of being your typical paper and pencil test, students are graded based upon activities they do in class. Mrs. Brown creates the guidelines for the activities and assists the students while they make a hypothesis, conduct experiments, and adjust their experiment until they achieve the desired result.
