„Lightning Lojtrići" in CRTA
Kindergarten Lojtrica from Velika Mlaka, near Velika Gorica has been conducted a program with potentially gifted children between the ages of 5 and 7 for several years. The program's final meeting was marked on May 31, 2022, with a visit to CRTA (Regional Center of Excellence for Robotics Technologies) at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture in Zagreb.
The children, along with their supervisors, had a unique opportunity to witness the latest advancements and applications of robotic technologies in various areas of human activities. The children's excitement was evident at every step, from their expressions to their laughter and exclamations. While they showed great interest in the presentations of medical and industrial robots, they were particularly fond of humanoid and mobile robots. Pepper, Nao, and Spot intrigued everyone present. The children practiced together with Nao, learned the basics of programming with Pepper, and the robot dog Spot brought them well-deserved diplomas for participating in the activity.
Our hosts at CRTA: student Tara Knežević, PhD student Branimir Ćaran, and postdoc Filip Šuligoj, did an excellent job in preparing their presentations and adapting them to be understandable, engaging, and educational. Throughout the visit, there were many questions and interesting remarks from the children, and we would like to highlight some of them: "People give orders to robots about what to do","How does a robot see, in color or black and white?", "A robot cannot eat anything, especially drink because it runs on electricity, and water could damage it.", "I would like a robot to bring me food...to do boring tasks instead of me and my mom"..
With this professional visit, we have certainly sparked the children's interest in the STEM field, and some of them may become future students in the new study program of Mechatronics and Robotics.
Photo and video source: Kindergarten Lojtrica
The project was co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund
The website was co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund.
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