First Annual Big Island International Micro Robotics Conference

Participants in the First Annual Big Island Micro-Robotics Conference learned to build several robotics platforms during the three day conference held at the Imiloa Astronomy Center on the campus of the University of Hawaii Hilo. Students and teachers learned about EasyBots, BrushBots, and Letry robots in sessions that included design and construction, introduction to electronics and programming.

The goals of this conference were to introduce the micro-robotics genre to a wider audience in Hawaii and create the opportunity for students to participate in a competition closer to home. Currently, students from Waiakea High School have been travelling to Nagoya, Japan in order to participate in the micro-robotics tournament held at Nagoya University.

"It is exciting to think that we are developing a skill set with students here on the Big Island that equals or surpasses those in colleges anywhere else," said Mark. "Using robotics as a basis for learning is the first step as we progress toward finding real world and business applications for these skills."

With technologies such as volcanology, deep water research, astronomy and geothermal here on one island, the possible applications for robotics are limitless.

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