Droid Builder Camp
Explore Innovations in STEAM
Join us for a special summer camp experience. Campers experiment with technology, code, and creativity, resulting in a take-home project they’ll be proud to show off.
The Bakken offers income-based scholarships to help provide access to its youth programs.
Droid Builders Camp
Join us this summer for a special week of camp, diving deep into robotics using 3D printed parts! During this session, students will learn about 3D design and printing, circuitry, servos, coding an Arduino, and Bluetooth remote controls. Using 3D printed parts + electronic components, students will build a remote controlled Star Wars inspired robot that they can take home at the end of the workshop!
When: Monday, July 13th - Thursday, July 16th
Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: University of St. Thomas in St. Paul
Schoenecker Center — 2210 Summit Ave, St Paul, MN 55105
Ages: 9-13 (grades 4-8)
Price: $450 ($405 for household members)
Meet the Instructor
This workshop will be led by a guest instructor, Seán McArdle.
Seán McArdle is a theatrical prop and special effect designer, educator, and multidisciplinary Maker, having worked at The Public Theater in New York City, The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, The Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, and many others. He has a Masters degree in Properties Design from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and is a longtime member of the Society of Props Managers. He’s the founder and solo proprietor of Hero Props, a Minneapolis-based props studio through which he does work for theater, museums, cosplay, corporate clients, and STEAM classes and workshops like this one!
A note from our Partner, Sean of Hero Props
Here’s a little more about what the kids will learn in this four day hands-on camp:
3D Printing 101
An intro to TinkerCAD
Intro to Microcontrollers using an ESP32 and Arduino development boards
Basics of Remote Control
Basic coding and programming for servos and Neopixel LEDs
An introduction to the international community of Droid Builders and Maker culture
It’s also an Art Camp in Science Camp clothing, because they’ll get to:
Design their own droid
Have several dome designs and body colors available for individual customization for each droid
Use acrylic paints and markers to decorate them to their heart’s content
Name them and put that name into the code
Create their own backstories
They’ll walk away with their own little RC droid that they can control from any iPhone, iPad, Android, Laptop, Desktop, computer-type device. Each droid hosts a little web server that they log into via WiFi to control the droid.*
*Don’t tell them this, but once they’ve done that, they’ve turned off the Internet, and suddenly that screen is basically an analog tool that they use to interact in real space rather than virtual. It’s such a bonus! They are having so much fun playing with their droids that they don’t even notice.