How long will it be until fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players will play (and win!) a soccer game against the (human) world champions?
That’s the ultimate goal of the competition and CCGS students are signing up to robotics club in fast growing numbers to pit their programming wits against other schools regionally, nationally and internationally.
Kindergarten students start this journey by working with Bee-Bot programmable floor robots which are great for teaching control, directional language and programming to young children.
Robotics is embedded in the curriculum every year, developing skills to solve real life problems from Geography to Mathematics. The Year 7 Technologies syllabus develops coding skills through activities like building a website or programming a microbit, and flows through to an Information and Software Technology elective in Years 9 to 10 and HSC courses including Information Processes and Technology and Software Design and Development.
Lunchtime coding club is a fun place for Years 4 to 6 to pursue their interest in computational thinking, develop expertise in coding using Scratch and collaborate with peers in a creative, project-oriented format.
Robotics club allows Years 5 to 12 to work together in small groups, before and after school, to learn coding using Lego EV3 Mindstorm kits. They step through tutorials to learn basic programming of a light sensor, motors and a touch sensor and there’s room for design and innovation too.
CCGS hosts the Central Coast RoboCup competition, a fun game-like contest where children collaborate to solve problems and test solutions on a challenge mat until their robot is ready to compete in dance, rescue or soccer challenges. Robotics is hands-on and social too, assisting critical and creative thinking and developing resilience to see a project through.
Team C-137 had great success in the RoboCup competition, progressing through regional and state RoboCup competitions to perform on the national and international stage in Germany, Japan and Bangkok. Today's robotics enthusiasts have big footsteps to follow.
Discover more about the before and after school Robotics Club.
Photos by CCGS visual media team.