The Helderberg Robotics Club (HRC) invites interested youngsters and prospective roboteers to its open day at the New Apostolic church hall in Church Street, Somerset West on Saturday (10 February) from 10:30 to 13:00.
It is a free outreach and delegates can take along their own laptop if they want to programme their first robot. The event entails a presentation and workshop.
Last year the HRC added the Advanced Robotics Challenge to their offering by programming a robot car to drive autonomously around a track using artificial intelligence to navigate it.
Helderberg Robotics clinched gold at last year’s World Robot Olympiad (WRO) Nationals with roboteers Raaid Fajandar and Michael Shepstone flying the basin’s flag by building an Arduino robot and programming it in C++.
This year HRC will extend its offering to also include RoboTennis, where two robots will play against two opponents hitting a ping-pong ball over a barrier.
The club’s members meet twice a month on a Saturday for two hours.
The Saturday classes vary from teaching the novice who has not done robotics before to the more experienced roboteers doing the Future Engineers category. The HRC enrols learners from age eight to 19 years.
The HRC hopes to inspire young people to seek out careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
The family-friendly open day encourages scientific discovery through hands-on activities, challenges and demonstrations, while providing the opportunity to learn about robots from world-renowned coaches.
The first 30 minutes of the event will be an information-sharing session and the remaining two hours will be a hands-on robotics challenge.
Families that want to participate in this fun opportunity are required to take along a charged laptop with a Windows operating system and the HRC will provide the robots.
- To register for this weekend’s open day, visit www.helderbergrobotics.co.za/registration.
- For more information, contact Helderberg Robotics Club chairperson Tony Williams on 083 235 2154. Alternatively, visit www.helderbergrobotics.co.za.
