We periodically run Coding and Robotics Workshops through our local shire library. This is an incentive to encourage participation in STEM (or STEAM) activities. Access to technology based learning materials can be difficult for students in regional communities. Our Local library now has a small collection of interactive robots available to assist in bridging that gap. Often people including children and adults may have trouble connecting technologies such as programming or robotics with our everyday lives, or feel that it is just too difficult to learn. Having the robots and running the coding and robotics workshops helps to demonstrate how easily we can interact with modern technologies in a meaningful way. It is also an opportunity to demonstrate the way in which technologies such as robotics and automation can improve our daily lives be it at home, in the workplace or out on the farm, and that technology does not have to mean difficult.
Win News came to one of our workshops to do a segment for the 6:00 O'clock News. This was a real buzz for all of us and I finally got my 3 seconds of stardom =)
We recently had the privileged of loaning "Monty" a NAO V4 from the Queensland State Library. These amazing robots are antonymous and very interactive. I only had a week to learn and prepare Monty for the workshops and didn't get time to create additional routines for the robot to work with. Just the same everybody and I mean everybody enjoyed our time with Monty.
See some more on NAO robots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrknRqBCLiw
My personal R2D2 robot doing some moves in my study. I fell in love with this little guy back when the first Star Wars movie was released and wanted my own ever since. It took some years and now he sits beside me at my computer =)
The young-ens eyes light up the size of the moon when I take him into the robotics workshops.