How Lego sparked my interest in robotics

As I placed one brick on top of another, I slowly completed building a mini version of the Batmobile. I looked at my creation happily, as what was once a pile of random plastic blocks turned into a replica of something straight out of my comic books. However, I had no idea that building sets from my favorite movies would turn into spending two hours a week learning how to code and program using Lego robotics.

A little over a year ago, I bought a Lego Iron Man set, thinking it would be fun to build it in my spare time. As an avid Marvel fan, I wanted something small about the franchise to display in my room. Though I was probably no longer part of the company’s target demographic, I found it relaxing and fun to put together all of the pieces and make something out of them.

It gradually turned into one of my favorite hobbies, and my collection grew steadily. Building Lego in my free time provided an outlet for me to unwind, all the while giving me an end product to show off. I assembled everything, from “Star Wars” ships to classrooms from “Harry Potter.” With sets of every kind, there was an endless array of things for me to make. I also had a random assortment of blocks that allowed me to come up with my own creative builds.New school

Fast-forward to the start of this year, I was moving to a new school. I had done an online website development camp in the summer, and I was looking for more opportunities to learn about programming and computer science. Knowing that the school had a winning competitive robotics team, I watched a video about the extra robotics lessons they offered for students who wanted to learn.

To my surprise, they taught robotics through the use of Lego. I immediately thought about taking the lessons, as it was a perfect combination of one of my hobbies and my budding interest in coding. Additionally, it was an academic extracurricular that could even help my chances in getting into various universities.

After enrolling, I stepped into the robotics lab and was thrilled to find out that our first task would be to build our Lego robot. Though it was obviously a little different from putting together sets for fun, many of the pieces were familiar, and it was interesting to see how they took plastic bricks and incorporated complicated technological aspects.

However, do not get me wrong, learning how to code has not been easy. It is still a complicated process figuring out what syntax will allow your program to work properly. The challenges given by my teachers are truly complex and require me to think critically and apply previous concepts in my code. With technical difficulties such as a laptop crashing, or robot not connecting, my time in robotics has not exactly been a walk in the park.

Regardless, I am enjoying gaining knowledge about coding, as well as challenging myself with new things to program. In a world where technology is becoming an ever-present aspect of our daily lives, coding is also a valuable tool to learn for future adventures. On the whole, I am grateful to be learning a fascinating and important skill, all thanks to Lego bricks. —CONTRIBUTED | JULIA ABU