I don’t know about you, but I find robots totally intriguing because somehow, they manage to tread that fine line between inspiring fascination and fear. We’ve all seen robots everywhere, on tv, at the movies, in the museums and of course, as childhood toys when we were kids. I’ve always wondered how these smart machines are created and designed. Like, what goes on INSIDE the robot to make it walk and dance and do all the crazy things it does? I mean, in a freaky way, it’s just like a human being?!
I found this hunk on the net:
Looking at him (it!) just makes me wanna try creating my very own mean machine from scratch! If you’re feeling the same robo vibe like me, I have good news. (: The National StrITwise® Challenge is here! http://stritwise.ict.np.edu.sg
Conceptualised by Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Infocomm Technology (ICT) just for secondary school students, this broad-based infocomm and interactive digital media competition aims to get youths like you all excited about IT. And you don’t just jump straight in for the battle. Ngee Ann ‘armours’ you with basic infocomm and digital media skills through a series of training workshops so you’ll be prepped for the final showdown on 14 Nov’09 :)
Ok, ok, on to the important stuff you oughta know. There are 3 different components to the competition:
- StrITcombat : RoboCode 2.0 (This tests your strategy & skills in simple software programming as you’ll need to create a virtual robot for an on-line battle)
- StrITdesign (tests your creativity in designing a life-sized graphical ‘virtual’ robot & virtual storyboard using animation software like Adobe Flash, Adobe Fireworks and Adobe Flash)
- StrITsmart (tests you on general infocomm & digital media knowledge and skills)
I think it’s pretty cool. You get to experience first-hand the actual process of making a virtual robot. Apart from it being a great learning experience, you also stand a chance to win fab prizes! Think iPhone and Playstation!
So if you are psyched, gather at least another 2 buddies (each team must comprise at least 3-6 students) and get your teacher to sign up on your behalf at this same website. And do it soon! The training workshops are running again on 14 Oct 2009 and online-submission of competition files closes 6 November 2009.
Now gimme some inspiration here for the competition- show me the coolest robot you’ve ever seen!