August 13, 2004
Robocup
This is on today in Hobart. More Lego than you'd ever imagine!
Students build robots that can dance, play soccer, follow maps and rescue yowie's.
Schools and science groups get together to work on their programs, build robots and practise against each other in preparation for competition day. The dedication that is required to combine the mehanical and programming aspects is huge, and the students complete the work in their own time.
While some groups may learn about the building and programming in class time, my son has been working on this after school and on the weekends with the wonderful support of Stephen at the local CSIRO Education Centre.
What inspires kids to take this on?
- a challenge where within the guidelines their robot can take any form they desire
- programming can be as simple or complex as each student can get their head around
- competition where participation is as important as winning
- students can use the Lego robot system or any other - the Lego system means that the entry bar is low - there are young primary kids right through to year 12
- and it's fun!