Robotic Exploration Of Mars – summary
Developing interest in technical fields among primary and secondary school pupils - this is the main goal of the Robotic Exploration Of Mars event. The event took place on September 18 at the Kopulak quarry in Suchedniów in the Świętokrzyskie province. The organizers were the Silesian University of Technology and the Kielce University of Technology.
The event consisted of two parts: Conference and Robotics Tournament.
During the Tournament, pupils had the opportunity to control various types of robots, rovers and flying robots (educational drones). In this way, the employees of the University of Technology showed children and teenagers the applications of areas such as robotics, automation, programming, mechanics and mechatronics.
Young space enthusiasts could compete in two competitions. The first one was robot control, which included 5 tasks to be performed, which were prepared by employees of the Silesian University of Technology and the Kielce University of Technology, as well as the Silesian Phoenix team from the Silesian University of Technology. Here, what was assessed primarily was the time to complete the track, as well as passing the so-called checkpoints. The second competition involved the presentation of robots or rovers built from LEGO bricks by pupils. In this competition, the following items were assessed: time on the track, visual effects and vehicle design. An important element of both competitions was also strengthening soft skills, such as communication and teamwork. The competition took place in 3 age categories: Kids (grades 4-6 of primary schools), Cadets (grades 7-8 of primary schools) and Juniors (secondary schools). It is worth mentioning that the first place in the Junior category in the robot control competition was taken by students of the Academic Secondary School in Rybnik. A special prize in the robot presentation competition was won by pupils of Primary School 35 in Rybnik, participants of the "Space Adepts" program.
In turn, during the Conference, the PHOENIX III rover constructed by students from the Silesian Phoenix team of the Silesian University of Technology and a rover constructed by a team from the Kielce University of Technology were presented. In addition, interesting educational projects in the field of robotics, implemented in secondary schools, were also presented. These are: the "Drone seeding" project, which involves adapting the structure and control system of a drone to operate a launcher enabling the spreading of plants in hard-to-reach areas, presented by pupils of ALO ( Academic Secondary School) in Rybnik, the "Flying with class" program, prepared by Little Bit Academy and CKU , and the project "Space Adepts" carried out at Primary School 35 in Rybnik .
The event was also an opportunity to present the possibilities offered by equipment purchased under the Ministerial program - "Laboratories of the Future", addressed to primary schools.
The following people participated in the organization of the event from the Silesian University of Technology: Continuing Education Centre - a branch of the Silesian University of Technology, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology, the Silesian Phoenix team and the Faculty of Mining, Safety Engineering and Industrial Automation and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology. The Kielce University of Technology was represented by the Faculty of Mechatronics and Mechanical Engineering of the Kielce University of Technology. Nearly one hundred pupils from primary and secondary schools took part in the event, including schools from Suchedniów, Żarnowiec, Rybnik and Gliwice.
The project is planned to be continued next year.
Author: Dr Eng. Aldona Rosner
