The first words that came out of an eager nine-year-old TJ Magielies pupil was, “I have power”, as he manoeuvred a sensor robot on a table at the second New High Trust Exhibition at the weekend.
Although the boy stuck out from his peers from Umicare Remedial School because of his big personality, he shared the same eagerness at wanting to learn about robots and saving the planet as his peers.
Almost 50 nine-year-olds from Nelson Mandela Bay became completely immersed in the world of robotics, a privilege normally available to only a few.
The event was held at the Storehouse Church in Lorraine.
From working with mini Ozbot robots that followed certain colours to the creation of their own paper robots and constructing pathways for a marble to roll through an obstacle course, the children were fully edu-tained.
Natasha Saunders, of the Advanced Technologies Institute, said the event was not only a chance for children to learn about robotics, but also a competition and a showcase for the research the children had done over the past 15 weeks.
During this time, they had to create a poster, a presentation and a cool hi-tech Lego motor after receiving training on robots and ecology from institute volunteers.
This year’s theme was Aqua Adventure – and it saw the children designing the water cycle from pieces of Lego.
A motorised part of the design was programmed by a tablet and they were then quizzed for prizes about their knowledge.
“The institute offers morning and afternoon classes for children aged six to seven in simple machine, robotics and coding classes for teens and adults,” Saunders said.
“Every year, there is a theme and this year we have been learning about water, how the water cycle works and motorising a part of the Lego exhibit by using simple engineering principals,” she said.
Divided into groups of 10, the children moved through different stalls and others presented their work to a panel of judges.
Another child from Vistarus Children’s Home, Maria Joubert, said she had initially wanted to be a policewoman.
“But after today, I want to be someone that builds robots,” the excited youngster said.
The programme coordinators said they hoped they could expand the programme to a year to allow for further development of the children.
Next year, the theme will be living and travelling in space.