School students learn basics of robotics

Panaji: New Jersey-based non-profit organisation Girls in Robotics (GiR) concluded its series of robotics workshops in Goa, held to empower high school children in STEM through robotics. The initiative was led by GiR co-founders, Goan sister duo, Shruti and Nidhi Mandrekar from Marlton, New Jersey (USA).
GiR advisor Deepak Mandrekar said that none of the students had any experience with designing, building or programming these kinds of robots prior to this event. “It was a moving experience for me and to all the teachers and parents that attended the workshops to see these young students quickly adapt to the new technologies and deliver fully functional robots that could complete the mission tasks,” he added.
The three-day workshop entailed introduction to robotics, FTC robots and its components, LEGO robots and their components with insights into application of robotics and automation in real life applications.
“Observing students build the robot and coding its movement by understanding the weight, orientation and balancing has been a great learning experience for me. I got first-hand experience on the aspects that students ideally like to explore and the aspects that they haven’t but should have explored. For me, this experience will surely be a great help while working on the curriculum for VII standard advanced course under Coding and Robotics in Schools Scheme launched by the state government last year,” said Maya Anay Kamat, one of the school teachers at the workshop.
Schools that participated in the workshops and demo presentations included LD Samant Memorial High School, Porvorim, Saraswat Vidhyalaya, Mapusa, The Progress High School, Panaji, Rosary High School, Bambolim and select students from Mushtifund High School, Cujira and Kendriya Vidyalaya, Verem.