Exploring 4-H Robotics is an ideal way to introduce science, math, engineering and technology while teaching life skills. Through hands-on activities, the 4-H Robotics projects teach basic concepts related to robotic subsystems such as structure, power, sensors, control and programming. These concepts are the foundation for building robots and robotic subsystems from a variety of materials and packaged kits. 4-H Robotics has projects and resources for a wide variety of interests.

Beginner

• Explore the world of robotics and how robotic systems are used in everyday life
• Learn to identify the important parts of a robot and use problem solving to design and program a robot to do basic tasks

Intermediate

• Fine tune your robot’s design to perform specific tasks, including creating versatile attachments to grasp, grab, and move objects
• Learn to use robotic sensors to detect sound, objects, and to track and follow lines

Advanced

• Learn to use advanced programming strategies to perform more complicated tasks
• Explore different types of robotics systems including making your own through “Junk Drawer Robotics”

Applying Project Skills to Life

Enhance Your Communication Skills

• Do a presentation on how robotics is used to make things for our everyday life
• Demonstrate your robot in action and describe how you designed it and programmed it
• Demonstrate the use of sensors on your robot and how they can relate to sensors used in robotic controls in manufacturing processes

Get Involved in Citizenship and Service

• Organize a robotics demonstration for your community
• Organize a workshop to teach others about robotics
• Create a display showing what you can do in the 4-H robotics project and place it in a public location like a library, museum or at a school

Learn about Leadership

• Teach younger members about robotics
• Attend a cloverbud meeting and let the members work with a robot you have designed
• Organize an open house in your community to promote the robotics project

Showing What You’ve Learned

• Make a poster of robot parts and describe how they work
• Make a poster or an exhibit of the robot you designed and include information on what the robot does and how it is programmed
• Demonstrate how your robot performs and include information on how you programmed it
• Make a display that describes a field trip you took to learn about robotics
• Create a robot challenge for younger members and help them to program robots to compete in the challenge
• Record a video of the process for programming a simple robot and demonstrate how you can make it do simple tasks
• Create a presentation on how robots work with today’s technology and how they can be used in the future to help with various tasks