Motivating Young Minds to Master the Machine

• Faith Kurily, Robofest Coordinator• Full time, started September 11, 2013• fkurily@ltu.edu, 248-204-3568

Introducing…

• Background/Overview• Fall Events• Event Details (including Global Robotics Art Festival GRAF)• Looking ahead to Robofest 2014

Robofest Fall Season (RoboParade, GRAF, UMC)

• Robofest has many events. You can think of them in two categories – Main Events & Associate Events.

• Robofest Main Events:– Games: students undertake annual robotic missions – puts math

skills to the test!– Exhibition: students have complete freedom to show off any creative

autonomous robotics project

Robofest - Overview

• Robofest Associate Events– VCC: Vision Centric Challenge for advanced Sr. High School and college students– RoboParade: parade of robot floats constructed and programmed by student

participants. Robot floats are designed to stop and start without human help. – GRAF (Global Robotics Art Festival): learning opportunity to use robotics with art

to create intelligent and interactive robots– UMC (Unknown Mission Challenge): mission tasks are totally unknown until day

of competition (pilot program this year – targeting 6-8 graders)– BottleSumo (Jr.): Be the first robot to find and intentionally push water bottle off

the table OR be the last robot remaining on the table.– BottleZone (Sr.): find the bottle and occupy the zone

Robofest- Overview

• STEM focused• Affordable – max registration fee for teams is $50 (some events

are less)• Any type of robotics kit is allowed and can be re-used year to

year• Any programming language is allowed• Any material can be used• Game playing fields are simple, inexpensive, and modular• Students rule = no direct adult help (except for RoboParade)

What makes Robofest Events unique?

• Computer programmed, not remote controlled

Remotely controlled robots

• No dead-reckoning: must use sensors (feed-back loop control)• Interactive & Intelligent

“Autonomous”

Robofest is for everyone!

Variety of opportunities for all

skill levels

2012-2013 Video

• http://youtu.be/_gWaeCJYcZs • Game• Exhibition• VCC• BottleSumo• RoboParade

• Saturday, November 23, 2013• Macomb Community College South Campus Expo Center (Warren,MI)• 9am-4pm, Official Parade begins around 1pm• Indoor parade where autonomous robots are decorated as floats• Robots must follow a black line; stop if the float in front is detected.• Robots must display current speed, speed limit is 7-17 cm/s• This is an entry level event for students in the 4th-12th grade and is non-

competitive; however there will be a People’s Choice award given

2013

• Other RoboParades– Oct 25, 2013: Sugarland, TX (Halloween Parade)– Nov 9, 2013: St. Petersburg, FL (Thanksgiving Parade)– May, 2014: Virginia (Memorial Day Parade)– …

2013

• Saturday November 2, 2013 8:30am-4pm at Charles Wright Museum in Detroit, MI

• Workshop in the morning, parade event in afternoon. Parade event is open to the general public.

• Effective model for beginner & novice teams• $30 per team; a team is 1-3 members. Includes lunch.• Few seats left – register now! • Wanted: site hosts in other states!

Camp (in MI)

• Pilot Program this year targeting 6th-8th grades, will be part of World Championship

• Saturday Dec 7, 2013 8am-12:30pm, LTU room M213• Mission tasks will be totally unknown until the day of competition. The

goal of this challenge is to provide an opportunity to develop problem solving skills on the fly without any help from adult coaches.

• Teams may use only a specific robot kit – for Dec, standard LEGO NXT parts, sensors, motors, and one NXT brick should be used. Multiplexors are not allowed. Pre-assembled robots cannot be used.

Unknown Mission Challenge (UMC)

• Inaugural program combining STEM principles with art!• Saturday, November 23, 2013 9am-4pm, Macomb Community

College South Campus Expo Center• Robots must have computational components programmed by

participants and must employ sensors• Performing Arts & Visual Arts divisions• Open to students grades 4-12

Global Robotics Art Festival

• Wanted: Professional Demonstrations!• Are you a robotics company? Working in robotics at a

university? A robotics enthusiast?• We invite you to demonstrate your robotics arts project at

GRAF!• To get a free booth or table, please contact robofest@LTU.edu

Global Robotics Art Festival

• Performing Arts Category Examples

Global Robotics Art Festival

Music played by robot

http://youtu.be/qR0je7nv-h4

Music: Robotic instruments played by humans

http://youtu.be/SdnYgf3QZT8

Dance

http://youtu.be/SzcIqhBRNFQ

Fashion & Dance

http://youtu.be/EjDYYBhepYw

• Visual Arts Examples

Global Robotics Art Festival

Painting: GRAF Logo

http://youtu.be/KS1GCGP8nVQ

Kinetic Sculpture

http://youtu.be/FSDOdoAR_Do http://youtu.be/mr7rGLngvVc

Kinetic Canvas

http://youtu.be/zEEWek5NO84

• MWCT is offering a $100 grant for up to five (5) girl-only teams. Teams can use the grant towards robot kits, project art supplies, GRAF registration fee, transportation, or team T-shirts.

• Eligibility to apply:– An adult coach must first register a team at www.robofest.net by Oct 22.– Team members of the team must be all female students in grades 4th through

12th from the state of Michigan.• For an application packet, please email Robofest Coordinator, Faith

Kurily, fkurily@ltu.edu

Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MWCT) Grants

• Only available for registered and paid teams• Currently robots available only for GRAF teams• Robots for RoboParade will be available after November 2• Robots for Robofest will be available after November 23• $50 deposit by check required• Stop by Robofest Office to fill out form

Robot Leasing Rules

robofest@LTU.eduwww.facebook.com/robofest

Questions?

• Step 1: www.robofest.net You must register as a coach and then log in

How do I register?

• Step 2: Register for the event of your choice

Each event/site has a unique event ID

Team Information

• Registration/General Help– Contact Faith Kurily fkurily@ltu.edu– Call the Robofest Office, 248-204-3568– Email robofestoffice@gmail.com

• Technical Help– Attend camp/workshops for registered teams (RoboParade Camp, NXTG, EV3

Workshops)– Find local technical mentors (engineers, college robotics students, etc).

Where can I get help?

• Workshops are for registered teams only. • Workshops are great for all events, applicable for GRAF,

RoboParade, and Robofest!• NXT-G Workshops

– Oct 12: 9am-12pm OR 1pm-4pm (Arts & Sciences Bldg S321)• EV3 Workshop

– Oct 26: 9am-12pm OR 1pm-4pm (Arts & Sciences Bldg S321)• Email Faith (fkurily@ltu.edu) if you plan on attending

Fall Workshops

• New program this year with goal to connect technical mentors to teams• Mentors can be adults with computer programming experience, OR

experienced & mature high school students who have participated in Robofest before!

• Please let Faith know if you are a team that wants a technical mentor, or if you are technical mentor that is willing to help.

• We will try to make matches as available.• Mentors are recognized through the President’s Volunteer Service

Award – great for resume building!

Mentor Connection Program

• Do you have old NXTs laying around the house? Have your students graduated and moved on from Robofest?

• Robofest Office is accepting donations of used NXTs!• A tax donation letter is possible that will recognize your in-kind

donation to Lawrence Tech University

Wanted

Fall Calendar

This is a screenshot from our google calendar, please check that for most up to date information. www.robofest.net

• Dec 2013: Kick-off meetings/webinars for spring season • Changes for 2014:

– World Championships (WC) in Daegu, South Korea May 30-31, 2014– There will be changes in the competition structure this year. Our plan is to hold North American

Championship (NAC) at LTU May 2-3, 2014. There will not be any Regional Championships – more teams will be allowed from Qualifiers into NAC

– Any team that participates in local qualifier is eligible to compete at the WC. Teams that receive winner trophies from Qualifiers & NAC will get some travel support to the WC. NAC winners will receive greater travel support.

Robofest 2014 Look Ahead

Local Qualifier Winner

North American Championship

World Championship

$$

$$$$$

Local Qualifier Participant

• Planned Events for North American Championship & World Championships:– Game – Exhibition – BottleZone*– BottleSumo*– Unknown Mission Challenge*– Vision Centric Challenge**There is no qualifier for these events. First come, first serve, but space is limited.

Robofest 2014 Look Ahead

Many options for participation

• We are looking for site hosts outside Michigan.• We are also looking for site hosts outside metro-Detroit

Michigan (such as the UP)

Site Hosts!

robofest@LTU.eduwww.facebook.com/robofest

Questions?

Robotic Artists Wanted!

robofest@LTU.eduwww.facebook.com/robofest

Thank you!