Cool kids: Science buff starts robotics club

Nicolia Ripplinger is 9 years old and already he’s the president of a club, one he started himself just because he wanted to. The club is called the FLL Lego Robotics Club and it is the first of its kind in the area.

The club started this fall. “There’s a portable mat. We do challenges and obstacle courses. I’ve learned to program the robots through the computer. They have sensors and do what you tell them to do,” Nicolia said. “One day they might do homework or clean the house,” joked his mother, Nancy Ripplinger.

Nicolia began playing with Legos when he was 2, and about two years ago he began creating robots which he began programming a year ago.

He is a science buff.

“His eyes sparkle when he talks science, especially robots, dinosaurs and legos,” said Marlene Lock, one of his teachers at Continuous Curriculum School in the East Valley School District. “As his eyes light up, mine glaze over with all the vocabulary and content above my head. He is a hands-on learner, passionate to soak in more knowledge.”

Eventually, the club will compete with others. This year’s mission for FLL is all about energy resources, a theme that will be incorporated into the challenges.

Besides robots, Nicolia knows a lot about dinosaurs. Perhaps there will be a robotic dinosaur museum in his future. He is considering becoming a paleontologist or robot engineer.

Nicolia also enjoys archery, golfing, swimming, fishing, boating and go-kart racing. He is even trying his hand at training dogs.

He can often be found in his dad’s shop where an industrial robot is waiting to be built. Like technology today, Nicolia’s visions of the future are sure to progress by leaps and bounds, visions he is likely to put into action.