Robotics @ the Academy – a pioneering initiative from Australia

10 January 2017

Selected design students from grades 8, 9 and 10 participated in a robotics workshop in December 2016 hosted by FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics programme in Australia. Top Australian institution Macquarie University is founding partner of the FIRST program, created by Segway inventor Dean Kamen in 1989. FIRST’s mission is to ‘inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication and leadership.’

“Students learned how to create mobile platforms from aluminium extruded parts and coupling sensors and other automatic controls to create fully functioning robots,” said John Franklin, Head of Design and Technology Integration at the Academy. “They continued their foray into this exciting area of high technology by competing their robotics designs against each other to win accolades from the visiting team of robotics experts.”

Macquarie University is introducing this programme to India through tours visiting select schools interested in robotics. Workshops are organised in each school where experts first talk about FIRST, and then guide students how to build robots from scratch. Academy students have been invited to join the Australian regional competition in March 2017 to compete with other teams from around the world. Opportunities for FIRST alumni include scholarships and entry to universities including MIT and Stanford.

Nail Patel, grade 10, reflects: “At the Academy, students are trained to adapt to the competitive future and robotics is one component of that rigorous plan. The session was conceptual and consisted of a number of interactive and enjoyable activities. This was because the concepts that were introduced were logical and highly interesting. Not only that, we all got a chance to build our own robots and control it with wireless gaming controllers which were used through phones. This taught us that robotics has no limits. We had competitions between robots but with gracious competitiveness. This helped us learn, compete and make new friends from different grades. The robotics session hosted by Macquarie University was truly an enriching experience that had an impact on my life.”

Luam Heimlich, an electrical engineer with a patent in telecommunications and currently Regional Director for FIRST Australia, together with three world-champion FIRST programme team members, spent a day at the Academy. As ambassadors for FIRST, their goal is to provide accessible and innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and careers in science, tech, math and engineering while building self-confidence and 21^st century life skills.

“I learnt a lot of things and I can say without a doubt that it will be very useful in the future,” said grade 10 student Advait Surana. “The amount of things we learnt here can never be learnt in a classroom. We also gained a lot of experience in the field of robotics and they did a very good job to persuade us to join the field of robotics in the future. I had a great experience and it was a day I will remember for the rest of my life.”