{"id":372,"date":"2016-07-11T12:54:06","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T04:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/?p=372"},"modified":"2016-09-14T15:01:12","modified_gmt":"2016-09-14T07:01:12","slug":"rocking-with-robots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/rocking-with-robots\/","title":{"rendered":"The Star : Rocking with robots"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Star interviewed KakiDIY about the Maker Movement in Robotics. Quoted from The Star “If classes are still not an option, there is always the Internet, says Johnson Lam, the founder of the KakiDIY group.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelf learning is the cheapest way. There are many online sites that help beginners to get the basics,\u201d says Lam. He suggests checking out www.instructables.com<\/span><\/a>and makezine.com<\/span><\/a>.”<\/p>\n

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Source :\u00a0http:\/\/www.thestar.com.my\/tech\/tech-news\/2016\/07\/11\/building-bots\/<\/p>\n

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\nBy all accounts, robotics and artificial intelligence are the wave of the future, as many commercial companies are increasingly interested to employ robots in the workforce.<\/p>\n

In the near future, you could walk into a telecommunications outlet or a bank and be greeted by a cute robot, says Dr Hanafiah Yussof,\u00a0 associate \u00adprofessor and head of centre of excellence for Humanoid Robot and Bio-Sensing at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara.<\/p>\n

Still, robotics as a field is at a very young stage in Malaysia \u2013 robotics clubs were unheard of before, but many schools and private institutions today offer lessons on building robots.<\/p>\n

Tan Eng Tong, chief executive officer of Cytron Technologies Sdn Bhd, says \u201cThere are robotics clubs in 50% of public schools (both primary and \u00adsecondary) now compared to only 20% a few years back. There are also about twice as many centres that teach robotics than there were a few years back.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a sense, it\u2019s the current generation of kids that will lead robotics in the future, since they will be the ones that have learned the skills necessary to build and program robots.<\/p>\n

Building blocks<\/b><\/p>\n

For many kids the entry into robotics starts with Lego Mindstorms, a more advanced version of Lego which comes with sensors, motors and processors that can be programmed.<\/p>\n

It allows kids to build robots of all shapes and sizes that can do a variety of simple tasks. Lego even includes an icon-based programming language that\u2019s tailored for kids.<\/p>\n

Yong Saan Cern, 11, was introduced to Lego Mindstorms NXT kit at the age of six which sparked his interest in robotics.<\/p>\n

It taught him not only to build but program his creations and before long he was thinking much bigger.<\/p>\n

He wanted to build a robot that could help humans locate minerals in hazardous environments deep \u00adundersea.<\/p>\n

The student of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Yuk Chai teamed up with schoolmates Wong Jin Tim and Lim Yi Hang to work on the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took half a year to design and complete the project. To make sure the brain of the Mindstorms was waterproof we sprayed it with WD-40 and used silicon as sealant,\u201d says Yong.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s creation won the Open Elementary category in the World Robot Olympiad in Doha, Qatar, last year.<\/p>\n

You can watch a video of the robot here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Powered exoskeleton<\/b><\/p>\n

Yong\u2019s team wasn\u2019t the only one to win at the World Robot Olympiad that year. Jamishran Chandrasekhar, Ruhanesh Suthan and Liew Chan Yue from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan USJ 4 Subang Jaya won the Open Junior High category.<\/p>\n

Liew, Jamishran, Ruhanesh and coach Shafeeqah Ahmad Fadzil designed an exoskeleton for mining. \u2014 Sasbadi<\/p>\n

The 16-year-olds created an exoskeleton for mining which \u00adaugments a human\u2019s strength to lift heavier weights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found maths and science boring until I discovered Mindstorms in my school\u2019s robotics club which had \u00adseveral kits,\u201d says Jamishran.<\/p>\n

The team combined Mindstorms with Arduino micro-controllers and sensors to create the exoskeleton.<\/p>\n

The exoskeleton, which cost RM15,000 to build, was sponsored by Western Digital.<\/p>\n

Early start<\/b><\/p>\n

Muhammad Shafiq Shahrul Amar, founder and principal of Creative Minds which teaches how to program Lego Mindstorms, says, \u201cAs kids \u00adprogress they learn to program and connect all the sensors such as ultrasonic, gyro and light.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they are able to program the sensors and movements, the possibility of building a robot is endless.\u201d<\/p>\n

SMK Bandar Baru Sg Buloh students with trainer Mohd Iman Izam Shah at an outreach programme organised by Creative Minds. \u2014 Creative Minds<\/p>\n

Law King Hui, group managing director of Sasbadi Holdings Bhd, which distributes Mindstorms, says \u201cPeople thought that we were crazy to try and teach robotics to kids when we started marketing the Mindstorms kits to schools many years back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow about 30% to 40% of public schools have it and this number is growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is also a rise in the number of participants in competitions. The \u00adcountry\u2019s oldest and most prominent competition, the National Robotic Competition (NRC) began in 2005 with 300 teams \u2013 as of this year over 2,000 teams have registered for it.<\/p>\n

Although most competitions use Mindstorms there are alternatives like the Malaysian-made ReRo modular robot kit \u2013 made by the aforementioned Cytron Technologies \u2013 which comes with a 3.2in \u00adcolour touchscreen.<\/p>\n

For more advanced studies, Robotics Learning Sdn Bhd teaches robotics with Vex robotics kits.<\/p>\n

Ilylia says her students are building X-calator, a robotic wheelchair that can go up stairs without ramps. \u2014 ART CHEN\/The Star<\/p>\n

\u201cOur programmes cater to five-year-old kids up to working professionals. We use RobotC which is developed by Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy. The module that we use is also developed by Carnegie Mellon and has been tested in over 10,000 schools in the United States,\u201d says Ilylia Kamaruzaman, managing director of Robotics Learning.<\/p>\n

As Vex is aluminium-based, it allows users to create robots that are bigger, more intricate and can lift heavier things.<\/p>\n

For instance, Ila Marbaha, seven, made the Star Wars <\/i>droid R2-D2 from Vex that can be remotely controlled.<\/p>\n

Ilylia says Robotics Learning is \u00adconducting outreach programmes to spread the robotics culture. It has \u00adcompleted 100 programmes since 2009 in places like Lurah Bilut, Pahang.<\/p>\n

She sometimes calls for students who have difficulty staying focused in school or who are grappling with \u00addiscipline and social problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they get into a robotics class, they don\u2019t want to leave. They realise that it\u2019s different from learning maths or physics in a classroom,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fascinating to kids as they get to see the robots in action. They don\u2019t just calculate things such as speed \u2013 in an hour or so, they can see the robot which they built performing the action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Affordable alternative<\/b><\/p>\n

One of the biggest hurdles is the price \u2013 even entry-level robotics kits for kids retail for thousands of ringgit.<\/p>\n

My Robot Education Sdn Bhd \u00adgeneral manager Lim Yuet Yung says the solution is simple \u2013 parents can opt for Arduino-based robotics classes which teach how to build robots using cheaper, commercially available electronics components.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a kid who\u2019s interested in robotics but you are not willing to fork out RM2,000 to RM4,000 for a kit, you can buy him or her an Arduino board for anything from RM50 to RM200,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

If classes are still not an option, there is always the Internet, says Johnson Lam, the founder of the KakiDIY group.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelf learning is the cheapest way. There are many online sites that help beginners to get the basics,\u201d says Lam. He suggests checking out www.instructables.com<\/span><\/a>and makezine.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to encourage people who are interested to know more about robotics. I personally want to help and incubate makers who would like to pursue robotics and create a product or solution for the industry,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Star interviewed KakiDIY about the Maker Movement in Robotics. Quoted from The Star “If classes are still not an option, there is always the Internet, says Johnson Lam, the founder of the KakiDIY group. \u201cSelf learning is the cheapest way. There are many online sites that help beginners to get the basics,\u201d says Lam. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":376,"href":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions\/376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kakidiy.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}