Turku Vocational Institute (TAI) took part in the piloting of the pilot course Introduction to AI. We tested two materials: Robotic arm with conveyor belt and Autonomous driving with computer vision.
In the first lessons, we had difficulties to set up color recognition for the conveyor belt. For some reason sensor did not send the information to the robot. We believe that sensor was working though because little red light indicated that it did notice object. After little training, we were able to make color recognition work.
Robotic arm and conveyor belt were fun and educational to work with. Group of students worked together and they were excited to see actual results for their efforts.
JetBot’s were also a lot of fun. With them we could divide students into smaller groups (we have seven JetBots). Teaching AI with logical examples like line following or traffic signs was easy to understand and it was motivating for the students. Students could easily spend hours for those activities.
Two teachers conducted the training. Our goal was to familiarize ourselves with the material together with students. Therefore, we hardly prepared lessons beforehand. Materials were easy to follow and we could accomplish training goals together with students.
Information prepared by Marko Kairinen, Teacher at TAI
