Popular interest in robotics has increased astonishingly
in the last few years. Robotics is seen by many as a field that offers major
new benefits in education at all levels. Is it a fad? Not at all. Robots are
excellent tools to train students’ competency in both academy and industry.
Robotics in Education can enhance their knowledge in science, mathematics,
physics, mechanics, and programming, as well as time management, project
management, problem solving skills, creativity, and teamwork. Many schools have
set up their own robotics lab for extracurricular activities, but most schools
still lack the resources. Students may not be able to own a robot all by
themselves. If it can be shown that robotics has sustained potential in
education, virtual robot with easy programming tools will give students an
alternative platform for learning in the area of robotics.
Fig. 1 – 1: RCJ CoSpace Rescue Challenge @RoboCup2013, Eindhoven,
The Netherlands
The CoSpace
Robot Rescue Simulator (CSR-Rescue) has been developed by the Advanced Robotics
and Intelligent Control Centre (ARICC), Singapore Polytechnic with the aim of
providing a fun and engaging way for young people to develop their
computational thinking skills and to get involved in programming and algorithm development. The
CSR-Rescue is the only official platform for the RoboCupJunior CoSpace Rescue
Challenge.
RoboCupJunior
CoSpace Rescue Challenge is an educational initiative to promote knowledge and
skills in engineering design, programming, electronic control, and the 3D
simulation through robotics for young minds. The CoSpace Challenge aims to fuse
real and virtual robotic technologies towards bridging two prominent areas of
the future namely, Interactive Digital Media and Robotics.
In CoSpace Rescue, a team has to develop
appropriate strategies for both real and virtual autonomous robots to navigate
through the real and virtual worlds and collect objects at the same time competing
with other team’s robots that are searching and collecting objects from the
same real and virtual worlds.
The RoboCupJunior CoSpace Rescue competition
includes Primary and Secondary Categories.