Junior researchers on space mission
The first summer camp "Mission Rosetta" was a success. For four days, 66 boys and girls were introduced to the world of robotics at the Innovationspark in Duebendorf. The camp was organized by MINT & Pepper, an initiative of the Autonomous Systems Lab and the Department of Mechanical Engineering of ETH Zurich.
The summer camp started every day at 9:00 in the morning: After a brief introduction on the first day of the camp, the junior researchers aged 10 to 14 years went on their mission. Based on the real mission of space probe Rosetta for the European Space Agency ESA the participants had to program a robot to fulfill its mission. With the support from students, the young people, divided into small teams, first learned how to write a computer program to navigate the robot. Subsequently, the robot had to be programmed so that it could follow a line and read a barcode. He was then able to navigate back to the rocket and transmit the collected data. The summer camp program also included brief lectures by scientists, who talked for example about what happens to the body in space and how to observe the planets and asteroids via satellite.
At the end of the four-day camp, the participants had to use and combine the skills they had acquired to complete the mission successfully. "Many participants have made incredible progress," says Philipp Reist from Wyss Zurich, who was one of the organizers of the camp. "After only four days some children were even able to write relatively complex code to control the robot, although they had never done any programming before." In addition to technical knowledge, the young researchers also gained a lot of experience in teamwork.
In recognition of their achievements, all participants received a diploma as well as astronaut nutrition at the end of the camp. Kathrin Altwegg, a professor of astrophysics who was part of the real Rosetta mission, Sarah Springman, Rector of ETH Zurich, and Carmen Walker Spaeh, Councillor of the Canton Zurich, also stopped by to see the successful completion of "Mission Rosetta".
Two more summer camps will take place in the coming weeks, which are both fully booked already.
