LSTME 2023
The summer camp for young electronics and tech enthusiasts is back. How did the participants program their own games and build the controllers to play them?
Summer electronics camp for talented young people 2023
LSTME 2023 took place in the beautiful countryside of eastern Slovakia, near Prešov. Once again, Ján Bočínec was part of it as a tutor and group leader. This year, participants focused on programming their own game and building a controller to play it with.
How do you introduce children to technology and teach them to work with it? The Summer Camp for Talented Youth in Electronics is a place where kids learn about the things they enjoy and love doing.
You can read more about LSTME in last year's article, where we also described how the 2022 camp went. Put simply, LSTME is a place for young electronics and digital enthusiasts.
An action-packed camp
The camp is always very relaxed. Several topics are prepared for participants, but it's up to them to decide how deeply they dive in. Each day is built around teaching blocks, where they learn about the topic and, with help from the tutors, try out real-world examples. Participants also choose from talks and workshops on the topics that interest them and that they want to spend extra time on.
The programme also includes leisure and sports activities. One of them is the blinker trail, where small groups follow tiny flashing lights through complete darkness, trying to find their way in the shortest possible time. This year, in the construction workshop, they could build their own blinkers or, for example, design their own mini table football game.
Participants also had a go at programming a game of their own, controlled with a gamepad they had built themselves. Game night then put the games and gamepads to the test. There were no limits on creativity, and as many as four games came out of it.
In 3D printing, besides making gamepads, they worked on designing hooks. The task was to build a hook that could hold a bucket, which they then filled with stones. The strongest hook held a full 42 kg.
In audiovisual production, they could try making their own film and a promo video for the camp. You can see results from previous years here, for example.
In robotics, they tried building a robot that could cross the gap between two tables. The wider the gap the robot crossed, the more points the team earned. The second task was to build a robot that could climb a flight of stairs.
The camp ended with the camp-wide Hi-Fi Ralley competition, a series of stations where participants tested the knowledge and skills they had picked up during the camp.
2023 was once again full of experiences the kids take home with them. There were sports activities too, and a much-praised visit to the Opal Mines, which really are the pride of eastern Slovakia.
A place for every technology and electronics enthusiast
If you have a young enthusiast at home, don't hesitate to sign them up for LSTME. Besides learning lots of new things, they'll make new friends and get to try everything out in practice.
You can read more about the camp on their website or follow LSTME on Facebook, where they posted a summary of the first and second weeks of this year's camp.
What Ján Bočínec says about LSTME
Once again, a really lovely mix of work and rest in eastern Slovakia, which my little son, my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed. It's almost magical to watch all these young people who have chosen to spend part of their summer learning about the things they love.
Thanks to the dedicated leaders, everything went well, and I'm grateful I could be there with them. Isn't it great to program your own game and build a controller by hand to play it with?