YISG was taken over by robots. The battle between the best programmers continues for the second day. Journalists Danil Parnikov and Alexei Filippov figured out what these guys are doing and asked how can they learn to control mechanisms. Vasiliy Maksimov, the director of Student IT & Robotics Center of NEFU has given his advices.
What is Robotics?
It is a modern area of science and technology, where they use mechanics, electronics and programming are used. Special devices are being created. They are controlled by the program and perform actions that were set by the owner.
How does a person give commands to a robot?
Each robot has its own processor and controller. With the help of them they are receiving commands directly. In this case, you can create a program that controls the motor and individual parts of the mechanism. It means that you are able to make the robot autonomous.
What software do I need?
There is a lot of software programs where you can write code for robots. On “Games of Robots” we use a software from Lego MindStorm and EV3. They have graphic development environment: for instance, instead of command “left” they use the left arrow symbol. In other words, these several arrows form a block, from which you can form an algorithm
There is also a much more complicated language — C. It has no graphics, though, you can make much more complicated algorithms.
Why learn robotics?
When studying robotics, children learn to plan robot actions, make plans, according to which their robots operate. Moreover, the children learn how to work in a team: someone is well versed in the robot assembly, and someone knows how to correctly configure command, and the third can imagine the resulting mechanism. There is a place for everyone.
Example is here.
How and where can you learn robotics?
Basically, almost all schools and centers of additional education have their own robotics club. If you live in Yakutsk, you can learn it at the Student IT & Robotics Centre of NEFU. But these educational programs are mainly aimed at children of primary school age. For older children there are courses «Elements of Artificial Intelligence», «Java Programming», «Robots based on the Arduino platform.»
- Interesting article for those who want to start practicing robotics
- For those who are going to connect their lives with robotics, here is the list of universities.
Is it possible to learn Robotics by yourself?
There are some complications. For example, you can download free program for creating robot commands. But it is much more difficult to get the robot parts: you can order it on a web-site or create it by yourself with lathe. Each of this option requires stable money investments – there is always lack of parts. Newcomers are advised to purchase sets from Germany or South Korea or make robots on Arduino platform.
Alexei FILIPPOV and Danil PARNIKOV
Translation: Konstantin Popov