The first day of Robotics Camp 2006 in Murray, Kentucky, was a success.  The campers began the day by gathering around the virtual campfire and discussing the plans for the day and for the week.  The first activity was "Coast for the Most,"  which required camper teams to focus on using good building techniques to create vehicles that would coast as far as possible after going down a long ramp.  A variation of this was building a three-wheeled vehicle.  This gave students a chance to solve problems involving steering.  The campers also worked on controlling friction as much as possible with the new challenge, "Friction Frustration." This challenge had the campers using friction to control the speed of the vehicle so it would stop in a box at the bottom of the ramp. This construction activity will be helpful when we build our robotic vehicles later in the camp. A third challenge was introduced, "Build the Longest Vehicle."  Campers were asked to design a vehicle that was as long as possible and that would still coast after going down the ramp. The record for the longest vehicle was 42.5 inches long.  Both campers and staff are looking forward to tomorrow! We will be using gears, pulleys, and solar panels to create some very interesting vehicles!

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