Robots make their way to Open Day
The maze solving robot, dressed with an Open Day t-shirt, as an honorary member of the Faculty of IT team
High school students with an interest in information technology (IT) are in for a treat this Open Day, where robots will be working hard to solve problems and puzzles at Monash University.
Created by staff in the Faculty of Information Technology, the LEGO Mindstorm robots have been impressing prospective students on Open Day for the past four years.
Research Fellow Dr Michael Wybrow, from the Clayton School of IT, said the robots were used to describe high-level computer science concepts in a simple manner.
“We have a robot that solves a maze that is taped out on the floor. You can start it at a position of your choice within the maze, and it then explores until it finds the exit. Once it has freed itself it heads back to its starting point via the shortest path,” Dr Wybrow said.
“Our second robot solves a Rubik’s cube. Participants can jumble up the Rubik’s Cube to any point that they like. The robot will scan the faces of the cube with a colour sensor, then algorithmically determine and perform a series of steps to put the cube back into a solved state.”
As for the third robot, that will remain a surprise.
“In the past we had a robot that played tic-tac-toe against Open Day visitors, we’re excited to unveil what we have for this year,” Dr Wybrow said.
For Open Day, Dr Wybrow offers his advice to prospective students coming along to visit any of Monash University’s six Victorian campuses.
“There are a lot of student ambassadors around on Open Day. These students are enrolled in the courses that you are interested in, so make sure you take the opportunity to talk to them and find out about their experiences,” Dr Wybrow said.
The LEGO Mindstorm robots will be available for visitors to come and interact with all day on 5 August in Room G19 of the Chris Wallace Learning Centre, Building 26, at Monash University’s Clayton campus.
Monash University Open Day will take place on Saturday 4 (Berwick, Gippsland and Peninsula) and Sunday 5 August (Caulfield, Clayton and Parkville).
To help make the most of Open Day 2012, visit the website - the new online planner allows you to explore and choose from over 600 event activities.