Children race robots for RAL research

A group of school-aged children relished the chance to construct obstacle courses and race robots, thanks to a joint pilot research project at USQ.

The Robot RAL-ly event was a joint Learning and Teaching Performance Fund development between USQ’s Faculty of Education and Faculty of Engineering and Surveying, with the aim of exploring the learning and teaching benefits of the University’s Remote Access Laboratory (RAL) system for school children.

Education lecturer, Mr Rod Fogarty, said the RAL was generally used by the Faculty of Engineering and Surveying’s distance education students to undertake experiments and manipulate equipment which would not be readily available to them off-campus.

'Dr Alexander Kist, Dr Andrew Maxwell and Dr Peter Gibbings wanted to explore the possibilities of using this technology beyond the engineering field,' Mr Fogarty said. 'Discussions between this group and Associate Professor Karen Noble from the Faculty of Education led to the development of the ‘Robot RAL-ly’ event.

During the three-and-a-half hour session, two teams of children between the ages of eight and fourteen were asked to evaluate the performance of a Meccano SpyKee™ robot, then design and construct a racing circuit to navigate the robot through.

“The design process – Drive It , Plan It, Build It, Test It, Race It and Discuss It – was developed by Dr Warren Midgley and myself to provide the children with a clear framework around which to operate. However, the children were also afforded a fair amount of freedom as they planned and built their courses,' Mr Fogarty said.

'Once the race courses were completed, the children were taken to a different location within the Faculty of Engineering building where large monitors displayed web camera images capturing real-time views of the courses they had just created. Cameras built into the SpyKee also provided the drivers with their robot’s view of the track.

'Each child then had an opportunity to remotely race their robot around the opposing team’s track with the track times recorded. Feedback from the children indicated that they greatly enjoyed the experience. Of particular note was the chance to work with other children in a challenging problem solving activity, the similarities and differences between manipulating a ‘real’ object remotely, racing on the tracks and of course, playing with the robot.'

The Robot RAL-ly project is one of the Faculty of Education’s ongoing research projects, aimed at developing new and innovative ways to provide quality education for a broad range of students in diverse contexts.

'Using this technology, children in remote or disadvantaged schools will be able to engage in the same kind of learning activities as those in better resourced schools,' Mr Fogarty said.

'We look forward to conducting another RAL’ly event again soon, with improved robots, robot jousting, and more.'