Leader staff

Norther Lakes College hosted its first robotics camps in Slave Lake and High Prairie.

Bruce D’Sena organized the camp using staff in the information technology department.

“We have incredibly skilled and knowledgeable people working in information technology at NLC and we’re committed to providing students a best-in-class experience,” D’Sena says, in a media release. “The cutting edge technologies, like artificial intelligence and virtual reality, that students explored in our summer camp are also being harnessed to support a number of our college programs, so it was a natural fit to create and host the camp.”

The camp was for 12 to 15-year-olds. It was held July 23 in High Prairie and July 25 in Slave Lake.

“This camp is really fun!” said Simon, 13, a camper, “My favourite is the 3D printing. It is amazing to see reality shaped by a machine, and how smart AI (artificial intelligence) can be.”

Campers put together a robot using parts printed with a 3D printer. They then used artificial intelligence to personalize their robot, says the media release. These included “gender, voice, and language, and enabled the robots to respond to voice commands, tell jokes and recognize objects using machine vision.”

To experience augmented reality, campers put together goggles which allowed them to see virtual characters on a cardboard tube.

As well, campers tried the latest virtual reality headsets that the college uses in its regular programming. Using this technology, they participated in virtual reality activities.

Campers got to take home their robot and the goggles they assembled.

NLC has campuses in High Prairie, Slave Lake and many other communities. It offers one and two-year programs in many areas from trades to health to university studies.

This camp was part of its continuing education branch.