Kristijan Tkalec, Sanja Hrvačanin, Lovrenc Košenina, Ivana Osećanski Despić, Ana Smerdu, Katja Volgemut

Friday Academy: ‘Next stop: Mars’

Over the course of several 3-hour workshops, the participants of the segment Next stop: Mars, which took place between October 6 and December 15, built a self-driving vehicle – a rover, and in so doing, became more closely acquainted with sensorics, robotics, coding and design. Our mentors outlined the artistic (e.g. Angela Vermeulen) and scientific research of Mars (the works of Herman Potočnik Noordung, NASA, ESA, etc.), and the participants also learned Arduino programming. The children built a weather station and a moisture sensor, gained an in-depth knowledge of the operation of sensors, learned about sonars, devices that locate objects with the aid of sound, and learned how to use laser cutters. Finally, with all their newly attained knowledge, they built a vehicle, programmed it and connected it to a computer.

Photo: Tina Lagler and Kersnikova / Rampa Archive

Key words: Electronics, Robotics, Design, Programming