Lego MindStorms EV3 robotics workshops in November 2013, sponsored by Google Australia.
We are very grateful for a generous grant from Google that will facilitate several robotics programming workshops, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on 20th November 2013 in Hobart, 26th November 2013 in Launceston, and 28th November 2013 in Burnie. In each case the location will be a computer laboratory situated in University of Tasmania premises.The workshops will be presented by Ying Chen, with assistance from Dr. Graeme Faulkner.
Workshop Format.
These initial half-day Workshops are planned to allow participants to take part in beginner-level experiences building small Lego Mindstorms EV3 robots and programming them to complete some fun challenges. It is anticipated that the experience will assist teachers to think about extending their curriculum teaching by incorportating fun robotics demonstrations. No previous experience in programming will be needed by participants in these workshops.
Current plans include extending the current workshops in future years, pending further funding.
Workshop Cost.
Because of Google's support, attendance at these workshops will be free.
Presenters
Ying Chen is a lecturer in Information Systems in the University of Tasmania. Her practical robotics experience extends over half a decade, encouraging her daughter Yaya Lu's Lego robotics work in Primary and Secondary Schools, which has included Yaya's State, Australian and Robocup World firsts, Yaya's accepted paper in an International IEEE Bioengineering Conference in Thailand, and her BHP-Billiton winning Engineering award resulting in her representing Australia in the 2013 Intel Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, where she gained a first citation (see http://www.YayaLu.net ).
Dr. Graeme Faulkner is currently retired after half a century working in Engineering organizations, and teaching Engineering and Computer Science subjects at University. In the seven years since retiring, he has assisted teachers in many Primary and Secondary Schools, plus some Adult Education and University robotics workshops. In 2012 free beginner-level Lego robotics video tutorials on his https://www.drgraeme.net web site drew some millions of hits from 158 countries, with Google Translate reporting translations into 40 languages.
Ying and Graeme hope to use their combined experience to present down-to-earth, practical, and hopefully entertaining workshops using beginner-level video tutorials for Lego's just-released EV3 MindStorms sets. The tutorials will work for both Lego's Home And Education sets.
Registering for a Workshop.
You can the information for the workshops in Microsoft Word format by clicking here, or in pdf format by clicking here.
Thanks to Google
Both presenters wish to express their gratitude to Google, as these workshops could not be offered if it were not for the support from this generous company and their CS4HS programme.