| Robo-Nemo
The young generation is our future, and before kids convince themselves
that mathematics is too boring and too hard a science, it is crucial
to show them that fun, joy and discoveries are words that belong
to our discipline. They have much more to gain than to lose by working
hard. I believe that researchers have to be concerned with the education
at each scholastic level, not only with college students. At an
early age, children are intellectually like sponges. During the
Spring of 2005, in collaboration with my graduate student from the
department of Ocean and Resources Engineering, Ryan Smith, we developed
a project titled Robo-Nemo. Its purpose is to teach young kids the
science of underwater technology. By teaching the younger generation,
we are teaching our future access to high technology and advanced
research.
Stomp-Hawaii
The Hawaii chapter of S.T.O.M.P. was an effort started by University
of Hawaii's Dr. Monique Chyba (Department of Mathematics) in order
to give children a hands on learning opportunity while delving into
the world of underwater autonomous robotics. The S.T.O.M.P. project
was originally created by Tufts University. This outreach program
focuses on developing children's creativity in solving problems as
well as providing an engineering and programming background. The program
makes use of Lego's educational Mindstorm kits with its corresponding
ROBOLAB software, creating a flexible means of developing robots in
a relatively quick and flexible manner. Aquabotica, our chapter here
in Hawaii, focuses exclusively on underwater robotics. Two different
programs have been developed so far; one for children in first and
second grade and the other for children in third, fourth and fifth
grade.
Talent Program
Talent Development Hawaii is a summer program for gifted children.
Professor Heiner Dovermann, Associate Chair of the Mathematics Department
at UH, developed this program. For five weeks, this program brings
selected students on campus and offers them a variety of courses designed
to support their learning beyond the regular school curriculum. We
plan to offer every year a class entitled Submersibles and their Control
(our first participation was in summer 2005). The first part of this
class is a basic introduction to hydrodynamics from a practical point
of view. We discuss density, viscosity, buoyancy and how these relate
to the motion of underwater vehicles. The students will get a chance
to spend some time at the UH-pool with ODIN. The second part will
be devoted to theory. The notions of velocity and acceleration for
a moving object are introduced. Examples of modeling of physical systems
are discussed and optimization criteria are added. The theory is supplemented
by an introduction to numerical computations using Matlab. |
