Workshop on Robotics for middle school

A workshop on Robotics was conducted by Mr Dinesh Malik (Education Officer, National Science Centre ) on 29 January 2020 at The National Science Centre, Pragati Maidan. The workshop was attended by 29 students of classes VI-VIII of The Indian School along with their teachers, Ms Kriti Chhabra and Mr Kunwar. The two hour session was organised exclusively for the students of our School.

Mr Malik started the session with a quick introduction on Robotics. He stated that Robotics is a branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation and application of robots. He gave a brief explanation of the various types of robots like the Autonomous robots, Semi robots and Controlled robots.

He explained that an autonomous robot is a robot that performs tasks with a high degree of autonomy (without external influence) whereas Semi robots are robots that can do a lot independently but still need instructions from humans at regular intervals of time. He further explained that Controlled robots are those which are completely controlled by humans and cannot work independently.

Mr Malik then explained the difference between robots and machines. According to him machines are capable of only planning but robots are designed to plan and execute instructions. He gave numerous examples of the uses of robotics in our day to day lives such as in the fields of security, education, defence, medicine, maintenance, etc

The main purpose of the session was to enable students gain a hands-on experience which can help in foster collaboration skills. The students assembled their own robotic car using LEGO kits and powered the motor, using hand generated electricity. The students also assembled a Castor Bot with help of LEGO kits and did their own programming using NXT brick.

The workshop was very interactive. Mr Malik appreciated the students for their passionate involvement and answered their queries at the end of the session.