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iHub By Juliette Wanyiri / September 14, 2012

iHub Robotics Boot Camp

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On the 7th and 8th of September, the iHub Robotics boot camp brought participants from all walks of life, but all who had a common interest in artificial intelligence or were probably curious about the world of robotics.

The event was kicked off by tutorial sessions led by Kingsley Ndiewo,  who taught about how to programme simple devices using an ATMEGA 32 Microcontroller (used to programme and control the operation of devices) and this way, add intelliigence to the device.

During this time, the intermediary group went straight into their ‘Smart Office Project’ which was inspired by the video of B.R.A.D. shown at the start of the event. Their challenge was to come up with an autonomous system that would control the operation of lights, the door, and blinds depending on the time of day as well as having a override security measure.

What stood out was the ability of beginners to quickly grasp the concept and tweak their projects to make them even more creative and interactive. One group made a robotics arm which was programmed to pick up bottles from the event. Another team developped a ‘Weather Man’- a device that gave you the ambient temperature reading on an LCD, and which could be advanced to display humidity and be resourceful for meterologists and farmers. The final group developped a gaming system that mirror the childhood game ‘Kati’ using buttons to throw the ball and lights to act as buzzers.

Overall, the teams enjoyed the experience and are eager about taking part in future initiatives. One idea that come across was working on a LED wall text messaging system for the iHub where members could text in messages which would be displayed using lights on the wall.

See more photos from the Boot Camp on Flickr. 

Author : Juliette Wanyiri