06-25-2023 Carroll Living - Flipbook - Page 10
SPICY
STEM
Carroll County programs embrace
technology with open arms
By Allana Haynes
P
epper lives in Westminster. She
has movable arms and fingers,
but no feet, stands about 3 feet
tall, and can pivot in any direction but cannot move around.
The social humanoid robot’s eyes
light up to show when she is responsive
to dialogue, a screen on her body can be
programed to display images to match
the content of a conversation. An array
of 40 preset gestures — ranging from
air guitar to referee signaling — make
Pepper come to life.
Pepper, who lives at the Carroll
County Public Library system’s Westminster branch at 50 E. Main St., is
capable of customizable interactions
and gestures through coding, using
Choregraphe, a coding language similar
to Python.
She’s just one example of the many
technologically advanced opportunities
that exist in Carroll County for anyone
interested in furthering their knowledge
of science, technology, engineering, and
math, also known as STEM.
Amanda Krumrine, who has served
10 | 2023 CARROLL LIVING
as the makerspace supervisor at Exploration Commons for about a year, and
has taught coding classes using Pepper,
said she hopes the space will serve as a
resource to young people interested in
pursuing a career in STEM.
“[We want] to serve young people in
that middle and high school age range
and get them in here to utilize these
resources and take these classes and
maybe explore a potential future career
path,” she said. “Maybe it’s something
they didn’t have access to before in their
school or outside of here, so coming in
might spark an interest, which might
lead to a career.”
Opening as a part of the Carroll
County Public Library Westminster
branch in 2021, Exploration Commons
provides the community with a space
to design and innovate artistic visions.
Consisting of meeting rooms, a teaching space and a makerspace filled with
3D printers, a laser cutter, podcasting equipment, resin printers, sewing
machines, virtual reality and more, the
14,000 square-foot space is open to
anyone 8 years or older.
The space is designed to create engag-