For the fourth time since 2014 20 teenagers from the region visited the QASS inventor’s workshop during their holidays to discover new things and to be creative in the technical field. Supported by the QASS employees the kids screwed, programmed and built robots.
But let‘s find out more about the participants‘ impressions. In the following all working stations and projects of this year’s inventor’s workshop are shown from the young people’s diary:
First Day
„Today was the first day of the inventor’s workshop at QASS which was very educational. After the instructions for our robots we were divided into groups. Our group thought about which building component we could develop for our robot. We decided to build a low-grip which can move table tennis balls back and forth. The gripper arm was made of aluminium during the week.” Lauritz (14) and Simon (13)
“Today we tried to get the robot to throw table tennis balls into a cup. Therefore we were provided with a robot arm and a laptop. The correct movements of the robot had to be programmed and installed correctly. This seemed very complicated to us at first. But after several attempts and some experimentation the correct operation of the robot worked better and better. In the end our robot could grab the table tennis balls and cups and move them back and forth. We had a lot of fun and the day was very informative.“ Jesper (14)
Second Day
“Our project started with teaching a gripper arm robot to build the Hanoi Tower. The programming in the team worked surprisingly well and it was fun. In between we could also try to print new shapes with the 3D printer.” Paul (12)
Third Day
“On the third day we developed a knife construction with which the robot can cut cucumbers and bananas into slices. It was very exciting to program the robot and to build the right attachments for it. That was my personal highlight this week.” Konstantinos (12)
Fourth Day
“Today some of us started to learn a new programming language. We let the robot draw different pictures, for example the house of Santa Claus or our own portraits. We took photos of our faces which were inserted into the laptop and edited by us. The soccer tournament during break was really funny and loud. We are already curious what tasks we can expect on the last day.” Cedric (13,), Gabriel (12) and Robert (11)
Fifth Day
“On the last day of this year’s inventor workshop a total of 5 groups worked on different projects. The day before each group could choose which project they wanted to work on. We could choose between a cleaning robot and a window cleaning robot. It was also possible to program a goalkeeper robot for a football table. Our group decided to work on the window cleaning robot. First we built a holder for the Plexiglas pane as a window and then we attached a small mould to the robot, which was covered with a cleaning rag. With the right programming, the robot could move the whole pane and repeat the cleaning movement over and over again through a loop.” Martin (13)
“In my group, we programmed our cleaning robot to use a magnet for collecting screws and throwing them into a cup.” Gabriel (12)
After a successful second holiday week at QASS, the young discoverers are now: back to school again! The whole QASS team wants to thank you very much for a successful participation in the inventor’s workshop 2018.
More insights from parents, children and organizers:
“For my son, the inventor’s workshop was a great opportunity. He has always enjoyed the craft, so creative handicrafts were exactly the right thing for him.” Torsten, Father of Lauritz (14)
“We are looking forward to more Girlpower next year! My special thanks goes to Mrs. Thiel from the zdi network Ennepe Ruhr for the organisation and provision of the laptops, to Prof. Dr. Raphael Pfaff, to my colleagues Dirk Schulte, Barbara Szczepaniak and Marco Gebert and to our trainees Luisa Schulz, Christin Restel and Torben Krüger for the help and daily care of the children. We would also like to thank the Westfalenpost and Radio Ennepe Ruhr for their visit in our company.” Christina Senega, Project Manager QASS GmbH
“I really liked the inventor’s workshop. The fact that we had the opportunity to work with robots that are used in the industry was a great experience. But it was also very interesting to get to know the working life of the QASS employees.“ Martin (13)
“Ich freue mich über das nachhaltige Engagement unseres Mitgliedsunternehmens QASS GmbH im Verein Technikförderung Südwestfalen e.V. für die Förderung von MINT in unserer Region und den Wirtschaftsstandort. Toll, dass sich so viele junge Menschen für diese aktuellen Themen, wie Robotik und Informatik interessieren und sich in ihrer Freizeit mit diesen Themen auseinandersetzen.” Kerstin Thiel, Projektkoordinatorin zdi-Netzwerk Ennepe Ruhr des Vereins Technikförderung Südwestfalen e.V.
„Ich fande es sehr schön zuzuschauen, wie die Kinder täglich an neuen Ideen gewachsen sind und dazugelernt haben. Ich hoffe wir konnten ihnen Durchhaltevermögen für neue Herausforderungen und Spaß am Umgang mit Technik mit auf den Weg geben. Es hat Spaß gemacht die Projektwoche zu begleiten. Ich freue mich, einige Kinder nächstes Jahr wiederzusehen – hoffentlich auch ein paar Mädchen!“ Christin Restel, Auszubildende QASS GmbH
„Man hat bei meinem Sohn die Begeisterung bemerkt, er möchte auch im nächsten Jahr gerne wiederkommen. Wenn man in den Ferien freiwillig aufsteht, dann muss das schon was heißen!“ Claudia, Mutter von Robert (11)
„Die Erfinderwerkstatt war eine interessante und spannende Erfahrung für meinen Sohn. Trotz des vielen Inputs und der kognitiven Leistung, die man für die Projekte erbringen musste, hat es ihm sehr viel Spaß gemacht.“ Gladen, Vater von Finn-Luca (13)
„Wir finden es super, dass QASS sich die Mühe macht und die Erfinderwerkstatt für die Kinder in den Ferien organisiert. Unser Sohn war schon öfter hier und er war auch dieses Jahr immer wieder begeistert als er nach Hause kam. Erfinderwerkstatt – immer wieder gerne!“ Kai & Bettina, Eltern von Cedric (11)
