Science, Maths & Geography - Minecraft, Dash, CoSpaces

In this series of activities, students investigate the concept of driverless trains and whether they provide benefit to communities. The recently constructed Metro system in North West Sydney could serve as a focus for student investigations. Students could investigate the following questions:

• Are driverless trains better for the community?  Why/Why not? 

• What sorts of safety features do these systems have? 

• How are these systems powered and are they environmentally sustainable? 

• What cities across the world are using driverless trains? 

• How do they work? 

• What are the advantages of driverless trains over other modes of transport? 

The next part of the activity sequence asks students to research the benefit of a driverless train system in their own community. Students could reach out to a range of stakeholders and identify the needs of people in their local area. Students could use a survey tool such as Microsoft or Google Forms.

Once this research is undertaken, students can use Google Earth to create a path for their proposed driverless train system. Students could measure the total length of their proposed route and decide how much of their track would be above or below ground. 

The example to the left shows a proposed driverless train route located in a local wildlife park.

People need to access the driverless train system at a station. The next part of the activity asks students to create a model of their station using a tool such as Minecraft. Students should take into consideration factors such as accessibility and environmental sustainability. Students can then share their completed station model with other students using a range of different platforms. 

Students will design a model of their driverless transportation system using a Dash or similar robot. Students will then be able to show their driverless train prototype to other students. 

The first step in this process is designing the track itself. Students should add obstacles around their track to replicate real life. Once the track is created, students should use a robotic device such as Dash to navigate the track safely. The robot (replicating the driverless train) should be coded that it stops at a station for a given period of time. For added safety, the robot should also be coded so that it can stop if there is an obstacle in front of it (replicating an emergency stop feature in real life). 

Once students have completed all parts of this task, they can present their research and prototypes to other students and staff at the school. Students could also establish a community forum. Community leaders, local council members, town planners and other key stakeholders may be interested to see some of the amazing ideas your students come up with.