Please check out my newest RoboSlam post:
http://roboslam.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/learning-to-teach-bot-building/
Emma and Ryan with a their working robot.
Learning to Teach Bot-Building
Tag / RoboSumo
Starting with Circuitry
RoboSlam starts with an introduction to the overall robot-building process and then delves into assembling the electronic components (i.e., building the circuitry). The photos below track the progress of several groups of participants in the “Engineering Your Future” event held the week of May 13-17 at DIT.
These photos were all taken by DIT’s current Fulbright Scholar in Engineering Education, Dr. Shannon Chance. Participants are welcome to download them and share them with others. Shannon will post images of the rest of the week in the days to come….
Robot Guts!
If someone gave you a computer chip, a box of parts…
…and some simple motors…
…could you build a robot? It should be able to stop, start, turn, race, and shove all on its own (no remote control)?
The answer is YES! You just need teammates and awesome teachers to help you find your way. They’re building simple robots at DIT with sophomore engineering students… and sometimes even with school kids.
Ready to Oink at the RoboSlam
Dave Dorran working with students at the mid-semester trials for RoboSumo, March 2012. (Photo by Shannon Chance.)
Regarding my prior RoboSumo blog, Ted did read it and he wrote back:
Hi Shannon,
Thanks for writing about RoboSumo on your blog – that was a very pleasant surprise!!
As you anticipated, I do have an updated list of people currently tutoring on RoboSumo:
- David Dorran
- Richard Hayes
- Ted Burke
- John McGrory
Although Damon Berry isn’t currently tutoring on the module, he remains closely involved in the broader DIT RoboSumo enterprise. For example, he and I travelled to Galway with the DIT student team on Saturday 19th January to take part in the National Intervarsity RoboSumo competition. And of course, Damon and I are still developing our “RoboSlam” begginers’ workshop for promoting engineering/programming/robotics, which we will hopefully be running again soon within DIT with an assorted cohort of guinea pigs (engineers, teachers, non-engineers, regular people, etc). Expect a call.
Ted
Dr. Ted Burke
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Dublin Institute of Technology
Kevin St.
Dublin 8
Ireland
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Dublin Institute of Technology
Kevin St.
Dublin 8
Ireland
Richard Hayes leading the 2012 RoboSumo trials. (Photo by Shannon Chance, March 2012.)
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To which I replied:
Oink, oink! I’m ready!
I’ll update the blog shortly….
Shannon
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But alas, Ted is always a stickler for details. I think he must be a brilliant engineer because he’s creative as well. Anyway, Ted said:
…On a minor point of information, I have it on good authority that guinea pigs chut, chubble, wheeeek and rumble but they don’t oink. Evidently, before we can meaningfully assess the strengths and weaknesses of our workshop, we’ll have to familiarise all our subjects with the basic vocabulary they’ll be using! Ted
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Me:
Oh. But, architects oink!
Did you think I was a pig????
😉
Damon Berry advising a student at RoboSumo. (Photo by Shannon Chance, March 2012.)
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Ted:
LOLzers. Of course – how silly of me!
RoboSumo at DIT
A video of a past RoboSumo competition is available to view at by clicking here. The competition is just getting underway now for this year… in fact, there’s still time to register for the DIT class!
One of the things I have been studying here in Dublin is the use of hands-on projects to teach engineering. One example is a very popular electrical engineering course at DIT called RoboSumo.
People who teach this course include Ted Burke, David Dorran, and Damon Berry. Richard Hayes tends to show up at RoboSumo events, too, as do many of the other lecturers. (Ted’s probably going to read this and he’ll likely send me and update of who’s teaching “on the module” this semester so I can tweak my list — I know mine isn’t complete. By the way, I appreciate having you in my audience, Ted!)
Suffice it to say, the whole program gets jazzed up about RoboSumo events. Even the Dean (Dr. Mike Murphy) can be seen in the video of the final competition.
There’s a bit of information about the class on line. The General Rules page explains:
Two robots compete in each bout, each trying to stay in the arena longer than the other robot. Robots are encouraged but not obliged to actively push their opponent out of the arena. … The bout ends either when a robot leaves the arena or once 1 minute has elapsed, whichever occurs first. If only one robot remains in the arena at the end of the bout, that robot is the winner.
Ireland by Chance 