Robots raced down the halls of Lehighton Area Elementary Center on Wednesday as part of Penn State Hazleton’s ongoing Lego Mindstorms summer camp.

It is the third and final PSU camp in Lehighton this year and students are working in teams to build and program their own unique robotic creations.

Students combine Lego pieces, motors, sensors and computer software to create moving robots.

“Students are learning basic programming techniques and they’ve been racing their robots, teaching them to go to a targeted spot,” camp instructor Mark Reed said. “They have also been using the sensors to have the robots sense the walls and turn around to go in a different direction. These are introductory skills, but also skills that they will take with them and be able to use throughout their career.”

The camp is open to incoming second through fifth grade students, and this week’s group included Eva Durigon and Milania Rapa.

“Learning how to program the robots has been really hard, but Milania and I have always figured it out because we work together,” Durigon said.

The camp also focuses on working independently and in teams to foster cooperation and teamwork, and using imaginative thought and critical thinking skills to solve complex problems.

Reed said students are getting many opportunities to experience trial and error.

“It takes some work to get to the point where you push a button and the robot does what you told it to do,” Reed said. “There is a lot of basic logic involved, and as the week goes on, I think you can see the students really getting it.”

Though the campers are only in elementary school, Reed said it’s important for them to know some of the opportunities they can open themselves up to through knowledge of Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics activities such as robotics.

“I’ve been showing little YouTube snippets of what this could lead to,” Reed said. “One was a simulated Mars rover, and some others were some robots doing medical tasks. I think the earlier we expose students to this type of education the better.”

Lehighton has been at the forefront of STEM education in the area. The district added a SmartLab in its high school two years ago.

“It’s really great how out in front of all this they have been,” Reed said. “It’s catching on now and people are realizing how important it is for students to experience things like robotics, but Lehighton has always been a big supporter. They are doing the right thing for their students.”

The previous two camps, held in June and July respectively, were titled “Rocking with Rockets,” and “Bubbles, Slime and More Super Cool Experiments.”

The robotics camp runs through Friday.