As the lead engineer in WIT’s Applied Robotics Lab, Jason Berry has been busy building robots - which all started with Electronic Engineering at WIT
One of the features of the Waterford Science Region stand at the BT Young Scientists & Technology Exhibition was the Interactive Robotic demonstrations, orchestrated by the Lead Engineer in WIT’s Applied Robotics Lab (ARL) Jason Berry, as part of his promotion of (STEAM) Science Technology Engineering Arts and Maths.
“I’m really interested in Robotics. It’s a brilliant example of engineering at its best and ideal for cool student projects. This is the magic ingredient that inspires the students to learn, learn...learn,” he says.
Jason, a lecturer in WIT, started out on the path to robotics with a Degree in Electronic Engineering here before doing Masters Degree specializing in Embedded Systems at Queens University Belfast. He now lectures in Embedded System Design, Programming, Operating Systems and Robotics on the Higher Cert in Electronics, BEng in Electronics, BSc in Applied Computing, Masters in Electronic Engineering and Post Graduate Diploma in Business in Innovation Practice.
His advice for any secon level student, or parents of kids/teens who like robots and would love to end up working with them for a living: “All the cool robotic project labs around the world, look for people with electronics, mechanical and programming backgrounds. So any of these disciplines will allow you work in this area.”
“We have designed and built a number of robots of the last 10 years, BENGiE our first design, can now chase balloons using its motors, object sensors and arms. It can also teach kids to add and subtract using its vision and speech systems,” says Jason.
Final year students designed and then built a social robot called Lampbot in collaboration with a team from Ramsgrange Vocational College.”
Jason adds that WIT has a robot that can solve a Rubix Cube in two minutes and a robotic Flying Fish, that is very relaxing to watch flying in a big space. “Our Giant Sumo Bots allow primary and secondary students to learn about robotics while programming a robot to "terminate" another team’s bot.”
There’s also a telepresence robot. “Think Skype on wheels,” says Jason. “Sheldon from Big Bang Theory, made this type of robot famous. Ours allows our Erasmus students from Brazil to drive around the lab when they return home.”
What’s next for the robotics lab? A third year team are going to build a robotic self driving car due for its first test drive in May 2016.
Interested in a future in robotics?
“For anybody interested in robotics, you can follow our projects on our Facebook page. Look up Applied Robotics Lab WIT on facebook to find out more,” says Jason.
“We carry out workshops, exhibits and visits all year round, so keep an eye out for Engineering Week and CALMAST Summer camps.”
Also please feel free to contact Jason at [email protected]. “We love to work with budding engineers and our lab always has a warm welcome,” he says.
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