Monday, 6th August 2012 – The participants of the ARX 2012 programme began their first training session today. The students spent their morning learning about the basics of building and programming robots. To start their robotics education, the students gained an understanding of how robots act based on instructions, using their own classmates as ‘test robots’. Later in the day, they started assembling and working with their robots.
The students are using Lego Mindstorm robotics kits which are equipped with a computer and several different sensors that helps the robot interact with its environment. Students have been divided into teams of four, each with one Ashesi student mentor and a laptop computer.
On the first day students were tasked with building a robot and programming it to move forward in a straight line one meter before turning right ninety degrees. The students have named this task “the LegOlympics”, in reference to the 2012 Olympic games.
On the day Ashesi President, Dr. Patrick Awuah, also welcomed the group to campus. Dr. Awuah, in his remarks, explained to the students how exciting Robotics could be, telling them the remarkable story of the NASA Curiosity Mars Rover robot.
“A lot of the things we use today are built by robots, even down to the clothes we wear,” Dr. Awuah remarked. “I believe there’s a lot we can learn from the NASA robot on Mars, the obvious lesson being implied in its name, Curiosity. While you are here this week, ask questions not only of your professors and mentors, but also of each other. Recognise that even when your robots don’t work, there’s a lot you can learn from the process. This is the mindset I hope you approach this week with.”