HONESDALE, PA — There are 12- to 17-year-olds in Wayne County schools who are writing computer software and using robotic technology. They may be among the pioneers in integrating microprocessors further into our everyday interactions.

For better or worse, computers, iPhones, Facebook and Twitter have already revolutionized everyday communications for most people. But all of that is the movement of data, while the computer impacts of robotics in the physical world have up until now been left mostly to industry.

The sponsors of Arduino Day 2017 are celebrating their accomplishments and inviting others to join in the fun on April 1, at Wayne County’s Park Street Center, 648 Park St. The announcement was among correspondence received by the Wayne Commissioners last week.

Arduino, according their announcement, is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use computer hardware and software. It is intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.

If it all sounds too “techy” for you, the organizers say, “don’t worry, this event is set up so both experienced programmers and people who have never even programmed before can have fun.” Workshops are set up for three different levels of expertise, from novice to professional.

Arduino Day celebrates the 2003 birth of the Arduino Project, a program for students at the Interaction Design Institute in Ivrea, Italy (IDII). The name comes from a bar in Ivrea, where some of the founders of the project used to meet.

Students at IDII created lower-cost component parts and the project developed a user community that designs and manufactures microcontroller kits for building digital devices and interactive objects that can sense and control objects in the physical world.

A microcontroller unit (MCU) is a small computer on a single integrated circuit. They are used in automobile engine-control systems, implantable medical devices, remote controls, watches, office machines, appliances, power tools, toys and other embedded systems.

The event is the only Arduino Day event in Pennsylvania and runs from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. It is to be followed by an hour-long open display of projects. For more information visit arduinodaynepa.weebly.com.

Courthouse

In other news, the commissioners heard county emergency management coordinator Steve Price report that the March 14-15 snowstorm Stella response cost Wayne municipalities $361,000. State aid is being sought, but Price said Wayne’s receipt of funding was still uncertain.

The commissioners adopted an update for the county’s employee policy manual, which added the inclusion of drug testing for all county employees and updates benefit language.

They also approved human services contracts for three new service providers for clients with intellectual disabilities, Melissa Cottone, the Human Resources Center and St. Joseph’s Center; new hires including Lisa Slish as public defender and Sherry Miller, Scott Miller and Veronika Rohrbach as children and youth services positions, titled as caseworker 1; the promotion of Bruce Negri from caseworker 1 to caseworker 2, and the promotion of Adam Thomas to full-time corrections officer.