Robotics education as a tangential learning platform

credits: Extra Credits

For those of you who have read the title, most of you are already in discomfiture and are wondering why does the word “Tangential” figure in a write up related to learning. Well, for starters, Tangential learning is a process by which people indulge in self-education if a topic is exposed to them in a context that they already seem to enjoy. Some valid instances could involve examples, where we could watch a movie praising classical music and then be motivated to learn more about the history of that artform. Scientists have observed this method of learning as an effective means of education with high retention rates.

This form of tangential learning is rather involuntary and represents innate curiosity in us learners. Not just movies, even other forms of activity such as watching documentary, visiting art galleries and playing video games could draw us to the context and make us better learners in that particular context. While this is an interesting means for learning, there is no such contemporary in mainstream education. Mainstream education does not provide with enough such avenues where kids can take a break from the rigorous routine and explore newer concepts in their area of choice. This means that the curiosity and love for learning is curbed in its buds and students are forced to stick to the trodden path in learning. 

A rudimentary exploration of existing processes reveals that tangential learning from mainstream education hasn’t existed and a major reason for the same could be the fact that mainstream education system does not incentivize such activities undertaken by children. This is something that has an adverse impact on student curiosity levels, and in some cases happiness levels too.

Mainstream education which is bogged down by its desire to impart parity in education fails to provide with scope or time for students to explore their areas of interest. Even if there exist courseware for students to pursue and explore within the outreach of their subjects, students are actively discouraged from leaving the existing track. This means that budding engineers and scientists cannot specialize in their areas of interests such as electronics or astronomy or roboting in their school lives and have to wait for the completion of their undergrad and postgrad studies before they can move on to pursue their passions.

We at Kidobotikz are not partial to this bias towards learning. We believe that tangential learning should never be inhibited whatever be the age of the candidate. He or she deserves to explore his/her area of interest even if he is not institutionally qualified to pursue high technology concepts. Our kits have been designed to give students a taste of high technology concepts in engineering and robotics. Students can pursue several interesting concepts such as electronics, mechanics, programming while they are still in their schooling years. Our platform has been designed to democratize such core technologies to the comprehensible level of school students. This we believe is our bit towards tangential learning. 

Happy roboting ! ! 

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KRG-IX: A few memories to share and a few memories to thank for. . . .

It’s been 3 days since KRG ended and our excitement is barely down. With the photos and videos just only arriving at our offices, it is time to reminisce and relive memories of the two days. For it not often that you attend events that put you in touch with the memories of your childhood. More importantly, this event was one that actually had children displaying their cool intellectual prowess.

The event was spectacular on many counts and for everyone who was there, it was an amazing experience.

It was a couple of days of absolute fun where everyone, be it the students of Kidobotikz or the staff, were all caught up in the euphoria surrounding the two day event. Every student who participated in the proceedings brought with him/her a unique flavour that made the whole event a joyous affair.

There were many positives from this edition of KRG. This was the first time when KRG was conducted on two days. After requests from many previous participants and parents to increase the number of events, the organizing committee of KRG turned this into a 2 day gala. This had a wonderful effect on all the participants. All participants could now participate in all events and did not have to miss out on participation due to overlapping events. This way, students also felt that they could spend their entire weekend on robotics instead of a single cramped day. The theme of this edition’s project display was another major hit. In order to show Kidobotikz’s commitment to nation objective of “Clean India” and to show support to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s “Clean India” campaign, the theme of the project expo event for this edition of KRG was “Clean India”. Students were asked to develop concepts and projects that showcased the concepts for making India a cleaner country. Students obliged the call for such projects by developing wonderful concepts which had the clean india theme incorporated into them. 

The project expo was a major crowd puller with several schools bringing their students to view the display the projects. This showed to us that schools were opening up to the possibilities of incorporating practicals-based learning and robotics in their curriculum. Equally enchanting was the fact that droves of students from these schools made a beeline to our help desk to find out more about Kidobotikz and what we do. Many of these students displayed curiosity and wanted to get themselves some of this robotics knowledge. 

The future of education scenario in the country could’ve been glimpsed if one had set foot at KRG on the weekend. Such was technological empowerment caused by the knowledge of robotics on these young minds. And we at Kidobotikz are happy to have been a catalyzing factor towards this future.

With the event having now been successfully concluded, it is now time to look back on it and thank all those who made the event happen. Every parent, student and faculty who had taken part in this event should feel proud as without the support of each one of them, this event could not have been the grandiose success that it was. In particular, two teams needed to be credit with the highest honour for their relentless commitment in getting the robots and project. Back at Kidobotikz, the training team and the production team always supplement each other's efforts. For every project the students had to do, their components had to be sourced from the open market. Thanks to the production team and their shop, every young student’s vision for building a robot of their dream was made possible by sourcing components through an endless maze of logistics. Their efforts in these regard can never be fully appreciated because of the inherent complexities in any logistics system. But thanks to their relentless and dedicated efforts, every component in every project and robot worked flawlessly. 

We wish to bring more such fun in the winter edition of KRG to be held tentatively in December 2016.

Happy Roboting ! !

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Roborace gives a fleeting glimpse of working DevBot prototype

When Roborace kicks off, it will be the world's first racing series for driverless cars. So far, it's promised plenty, but is yet to deliver any wheel-to-wheel driverless action. Details about the car's design have been released, but there's been no video of a driverless racer actually on the track. Until now, that is, because the Roborace team has released the first fleeting glimpses of a development mule labelled DevBot.

The Roborace series is set to run in conjunction with the 2016/2017 Formula E season. Cars will be controlled by a central Nvidia AI brain, using cameras and radar sensors to navigate the pack of all-electric racers around tight city streets.

Designed to serve as a base for teams to hone their software for the real Roborace cars, DevBot looks nothing like the futuristic Daniel Simon creation we saw earlier this year. There's a cabin to hold a driver or engineer, and none of the sensors and cameras have been covered up.

It's not designed to look pretty though, it's purpose is to give engineers invaluable information about how the car "thinks" when it's out on the track. So the DevBot is fitted with the same drivetrain, sensors, computers and communication systems as the final racer.

A fully-finished Roborace car will be make its public debut at the Formula E open practice sessions in Donington, UK, on August 24. In the meantime, check out the DevBot in action in the video below.

Source: Roborace, New Atlas

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Roborace reveals what's under the skin of its enigmatic self-driving race car

Anyone who thinks car racing is all about the drivers is about to come in for a rude shock –self-driving race cars are set to hit the track soon. Roborace is planning to run alongside Formula E in the 2016/17 season with a futuristic car designed by Daniel Simon, but details about how the car would actually work have been hard to come by. Thanks to a new image from Roborace, we finally have a bit more info about what will make it tick.

Even though it's been doing the rounds since April, Daniel Simon's design is still properly arresting. Because there's no need to protect a driver, no need to leave space for the legs and head, the shape is unlike anything we've seen from Formula 1 or Le Mans racers.

Without a driver behind the wheel, Roboracers are reliant on data from a huge array of sensors and cameras. Lidar sensors are fitted to the front bumper, front flanks and rear bumper, and there are radar units at the front and rear as well. Cameras mounted to the front bumper and central "tower" also feed information back to the central brain.

That brain is a Nvidia Drive PX 2 , which is tasked with processing the torrent of raw data from the sensors at lightning speed. It's cooled by a dedicated scoop at the nose of the car, and mounted in the center of the fuselage to keep it as far from any potential crash damage as possible.

The battery pack is the other area paid special cooling attention, with outlets tucked away behind the rear wheelarches. The only element of this design not blended seamlessly into the body is the "tower" at the back, but it makes sense to have the 360-degree TV camera, status lights and pitot tube elevated and easy to see, so I guess we'll have to forgive Simon for that little aberration.

To begin with, Roborace competitors will compete in identical cars. There is expected to be 10 teams, each with two cars, running hour-long support races across the globe during the course of the Formula E championship season.

Source: Roborace, New Atlas

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Kidobotikz's Robopalooza: KRG Day 2

When can an event be called an extravaganza? Could it be when organizers spend months of planning, weeks of preparations and a fat wad of money to organize an event? Could it be on the basis of footfalls at an event? Not quite. An event can unequivocally declared an extravaganza when the crowd turns up in hordes and then refuses to leave. The crowd which falls in love with the atmosphere of the event is left wanting for more. This is the defining moment for any event when it no longer is an event but becomes a tradition, one that cannot afford to not happen regularly. At the end of the proceedings of the August Edition of KRG, it can be safely said that KRG is no longer just an event but a tradition.

The second and final day of KRG commenced with an intense state of euphoria with a swelling in participation since yesterday’s events. With the energy and excitement pouring in over from yesterday, the action commenced from where we left yesterday. The first event for today, which took place at arena 3, was Temple Run (Seniors) wherein the senior students of Kidobotikz took part in the android game-inspired event. The main focus of this event was on building and designing robots which were capable of pushing themselves through a path that was ridden with obstacles. The obstacles which ranged from an elevated ramp to a teeterboard was one of the tougher events that students take part in. Robots of various dimensions, which were custom designed to be able to tackle the unexpected obstacles on the pathway, elicited quite a loud cheer from the audience with both parents and students going gaga over the suspense built into the event. Not many robots were able to successfully complete the entire lap, thereby assuring that victory was hard-earned. 

Back in Arena 2, another interesting event was happening which was a crowd favourite. The junior and senior versions of the Balloon Burster was in the happening today and it turned out to be quite a fun event. “A last man standing”-kinda event, it involved robots which had balloons tethered to their rears while long pointed nails fixed to the front. Like a knight involved in jousting, each participant had to shield his own balloon from being pierced while trying to pierce the balloon of the opponent. This event, which had single elimination format,was a rather rapid one with many matches being played out in less than 60 seconds. The juniors event of this game was won by Shraddha while the seniors was won by Rohit Kumar. 

Interestingly, there was one event which had put everyone in a spot of bother. The line follower event which had circuitous black paths was so tough that not one participant could win the event. The final robot which took part in this event was the only one which was able to complete the lap. Not surprisingly, Vidyasagar who had designed this robot was declared the winner of this event. Impressively, Vidyasagar had also managed to bag two more events into his kitty. After winning 3 of the events- namely Line Follower, Temple Run seniors; Vidyasagar was declared the overall champion. 

The prize distribution ceremony which happened after the close of all the games was a solemn affair. Dr. Ravikumar, Director of Center for Entrepreneurship Development, Anna University, had graciously agreed to preside over the occasion as Chief Guest and give away the prizes. Dr. Ravikumar, who was acquainted with the our directors Pranavan and Sneha, had quite a few words of praise for both of them and the organization of Kidobotikz. He opined that the methodologies adopted by Kidobotikz to promote robotics based education for students had the potential to better the standards of education in our country and such efforts were well warranted.  PSBB KK Nagar won the overall shield.

Team Kidobotikz is happy to have conducted a two day KRG for the first time and is proud to declare that the two day event was a runaway success. We at Kidobotikz promise to bring back the next edition of KRG in a grander form and with much pomp. 

Happy Roboting ! ! 

Good Night ! !

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Kidobotikz's Robopalooza: KRG Day 1

For most of us who have a defined notion of the word “Fun”, today would’ve been an awakening experience! It was the first day of KRG and the day could not have turned out better! The day turned out to be absolutely fantabulous with lots of action. The ingredients for the usual though- Children, Robots and Competitions. For the audience though, the event was an absolute gala. With parents and children making to the event in droves, the event was an absolute crowd puller; in particular there were a number of enthusiastic drop ins from the student community of the College of Engineering, Guindy. With both parents and students having fun, they desired to catch some of the roboting action for themselves.

The first day of the ninth edition of KRG began with some exceptional jubilation thanks to the regular attendees of KRG. The event in itself commenced on time with the robots getting caged and vetted for registration at 8:30 AM. As the first event, Temple Run (Stock robots), commenced at little past 9 AM simultaneous preparations were underway for participation of the second event. The second event, Robo Sumo, which was one of the star attractions of the day began with much fanfare and saw a huge participation. When the morning session for this event concluded at around noon, it was a good 3 hours of high intensity roboting at the TAG Auditorium. 

Meanwhile, another important event was underway supplementing all the action at the TAG Auditorium. At the H.M Hall adjoining the TAG Auditorium, a project expo event was organized which encompassed a myriad of projects conceived and developed by the students of Kidobotikz. Each of these individual projects were brilliant in their own right with some truly eye catching concepts. In line with the PM Shri Narendra Modi’s “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”, this edition of KRG’s project had a specific “Clean India” theme. All the projects on display were in line with this theme and students had painstakingly developed some interesting concepts for display to the outside world. Their efforts, however, were sufficiently rewarded with a lot of students turning up to grab a presentation of these projects. Henry Maudslay, the great inventor and after whom the H.M hall is named after, would be proud man to have witnessed such young innovative minds.

Schools from various parts of the city honoured Kidobotikz’s invitation and brought their students here to view the projects on display. Among these, the contingent from Jeppiaar School was by far the largest with close to 300 students attending KRG. 

After a brief recess, the afternoon events began with great fervour. The overcast skies and sumptuous luncheon seemed to have had no effect on the energies of the participants. If anything, the pitch of the event was higher than the morning. At around 2:30 PM, to the sounding of whistles, the robo races and robo sumos resumed with a great deal of joy from both the participants and the audience. When one of the two last standing robots were nudged out of the arena, the games for the day came to a close with the next event being for parents. This event which was conducted by Kidobotikz to entertain all the mothers of the kidobotikz student community, was much appreciated by all.

At around 6:30 PM the curtains were brought down on the first day of the Kidobotikz Robo Games 2016- August Edition. With still another day left in the event, the action continues tomorrow from where we left it today. 

Happy roboting! ! !

Good Night ! !

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Geek Speak: KRG Special Edition

Here comes Friday evening and with it a rush of activity. It is the last day before the big event and it’s a complete frenzy here at Kidobotikz. We’re on the eve of the most awaited weekend of the month- The weekend of KRG. The fact that it was a rainy evening seemed to have no impact on anyone. Every single person, be it students or personnel, seem to be caught up in the frenzy for the KRG weekend and the preparations are in full swing. The 11th hour preparations are underway and the entire campus is a beehive of activity. 

Back at the Makerspace, it is rush hour. Students who embody the principles of procrastination are here giving final touches to their robots which are to be displayed tomorrow. Supporting them are their faculty who are helping them test their robots and make sure that all of them are display a flawless working condition tomorrow. 

In the meantime, I just get a quick glance at all the robots that being tinkered upon and find one particular robot. This robot which sports liveries not much different from the sponsorship liveries on an F-1 race car belonged to a young mind. Shraddha, who is a 5th grader at the Ravindra Bharathi Global School, is the brains behind this interesting robot. The robot which has been aptly named “Magno-bot” is an cleaning robot which can separate ferrromagnetic materials from municipal waste. These could range from anything between iron filings to nails. She has developed it for tomorrow’s project expo and has high hopes for her project.

Meanwhile, the lobby of the Kidobotikz office is filled with parents for whom waiting outside the Kidobotikz classrooms has been a regular routine this week. Thanks to such devoted parents who are equally enthused about the event, kids are able to expose themselves to such interesting events and gain experience as educate themselves.

We have talked a lot about the preparations for the event itself; however, it would be a lost cause if our readers were not aware of how the actual event will turn out to be. While our prime suggestion would be to request you all to drop in at tomorrow’s KRG, we don’t want our followers to miss the action. So, stay updated on the Kidobotikz facebook page to receive a flurry of images that will be uploaded throughout the day to ensure that everybody can get a taste of the ongoing action.

If you are still an avid reader of our blog, it would prudent for you to catch a front row seat at CEG’s Tag Auditorium by 8:30 AM; because that is where all the action will be happening for the next couple of days. 

Happy Roboting ! !

Happy KRG ! !

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