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Is it possible to build a robot that will make my bed, do the dishes, take out the rubbish bins and mow the lawns?
Award-winning American Wolfpack Machina robotics team members Harrison Tinger and Adam Bererhout said it was usually one of the first questions most budding robotics engineers asked them, and it was no different on Saturday when they gave a First Tech Challenge (FTC) robot-building workshop in Dunedin.
‘‘Yes. Yes it is possible,’’ Adam said.
‘‘You could even make it autonomous.
‘‘And yes, it’s usually the boys that ask.’’
The 16-year-olds, from The Waring School in Massachusetts, were in Dunedin partly by chance and partly by design.
Harrison said the duo started doing trips around the globe about two years ago, to teach young people how to improve their computer coding, 3-D printing and mechanical engineering skills, and inspire them to establish robot-making teams.
‘‘Our first trip was to Dunedin, two years ago, when my mum came here for six weeks to do her PhD.
‘‘I came over in the last three weeks, and while I was here, I noticed there were no FTC teams here.
‘‘So I went to a couple schools to see if I could share my robotics knowledge.
‘‘Later, I came back and I stayed here for three months, and I coached a team from Tahuna Intermediate all the way to the Auckland championship.
‘‘And then after that, Adam and I ran summer camps at our school back home to raise a bunch of money for this trip specifically, and to fund our whole season going around the world, giving robotics workshops.’’
He said the students had been very engaged in the programme.
‘‘It’s been amazing to see them just kind of grow.’’
Workshop participant and Bayfield High School student Quintin Sime said it was great to be able to learn from people with so much experience and who were a similar age to him.
The Wolfpack Machina team was a highly decorated FTC robotics team, and widely recognised in the global robotics community for its engineering innovation, custom machining and award-winning autonomous programming.
He said he would like to study robotics at higher levels, and hoped to establish an FTC team at his school next week.
‘‘I would like to try and get our school on board to do this kind of stuff.’’
Adam said he hoped it would be the first of many new teams to be established around Dunedin, as a result of their workshops.