First Robotics Program at DSODE

Macquarie University’s First Robotics program was held at Dubbo School of Distance Education over three days, during the junior residential. The workshop was presented by Electrical and Software Engineers Luan and Sarah Heimlich together with Science Head Teacher Andreas Shepley and science teacher Don Bates.

DSoDE First Robotics team:

Back row, Luan Heimlich, Chris Nixon, Ylee Andrews, Judi Howe. Front row, William Mastronardi, John Kelly, Lisa Thiel, Sarah Heimlich

Students learned how to design and build a Lego EV3 robot. They began with construction and programming basics, building on these skills as they added different sensors including touch and ultrasonic sensors to solve problems they encountered.

DSODE science teacher Don Bates said the First Robotics program would be rolled out regionally following the initial workshop series.

“During this week’s workshops we involved Dubbo College Delroy, St John’s College, Macquarie Anglican Grammar and Year 7 to 10 DSODE students who were already here for the residential week” he said.

“In addition we had a Year 8 DSODE team including one student who travelled four-and-a-half hours to get here for the workshop.”

“The Dubbo School of Distance Education will act as a hub for the program. DSODE Science Head Teacher Andreas Shepley will run training workshops for teams from other regional schools in the near future.”

“This week, students and teachers have really enjoyed the course and they are being invited to apply for a FIRST® Australia and Google Australia grant for robotic kits for their schools.”

First Robotics is a franchise of Macquarie University, which is keen to see the program operating in regional, as well as city schools. Macquarie University Electrical Engineer Luan Heimlich said the First Robotics program had been designed for students from Years 3 to 9, with a critical part of the program focussed on attracting girls to science and engineering.

Students learned to solve problems using a multi-disciplinary approach, which included icon based computer programming, and mechanical engineering concepts. They were encouraged to work in teams, to communicate effectively with peers, and to use mathematics to solve problems involving estimation of distances and changes in direction.

By the end of the workshop, students had mastered icon based coding and understood the use of sensors to enable the robot to interact with its environment. They encountered and solved a wide range of problems including maze navigation, rescuing a Lego figurine from a location, and various engineering challenges, such as moving a robot without the use of wheels.

It is hoped that this new hands on approach will encourage a greater number of students to pursue an interest in science, and ultimately a career in high demand areas such as engineering and programming.