By Airesh Dy E. Capada – Secretary, IECEP-CPUSC
Training-Workshop on Robotics and Visual Programming at Santa Barbara National Comprehensive High School.
CPU College of Engineering, Electronics Engineering (ECE) Department, and its student organization Institute of Electronics Engineers of the Philippines CPU Student Chapter (IECEP-CPU SC) conducted an outreach activity on Robotics and Visual Programming last April 18, 2024, at Santa Barbara National Comprehensive High School, Sta. Barbara, Iloilo. It was a creative and innovative program where a group of ECE students and faculty taught senior high school (SHS) students all about Arduino programming using the XOD IDE.
The training-workshop was a whole day event, it started with a refresher on Arduino and a new concept called visual programming with the XOD IDE in the morning session. The ECE facilitators explained why visual programming is easier to learn than traditional coding, especially for robotics. The session then went on to a hands-on activity in which participants were taken through the process of using the XOD IDE. The ECE student facilitators assigned per table provided a step-by-step procedure to ensure that each student understood the concept of connecting hardware components such as LEDs, LCDs, potentiometers, water sensors, sound sensors, LDRs, and servo motors to Arduino board. The discussion covered how these electronic components function with Arduino, which helped the students understand the concept better. Additionally, participants learned the process of uploading basic programs to their Arduino boards. The ECE student facilitators actively interacted with their respective groups, giving assistance, and answering questions which were also under the guidance of our ECE Faculty Members: Engr. Yeseil Sacramento, Engr. Juicy Valdueza, and Engr. Gelvie Lagos. Their practical expertise and experience gave the students great insights, enabling a collaborative learning atmosphere.
The CPU ECE Facilitators are discussing the fundamental principles of various electronic components.
The atmosphere in the workshop became even more vibrant with creative energy during the afternoon session. SHS students and their ECE facilitators happily presented their ideas for cool prototypes using Arduino and the XOD IDE. Each group showed their designs and programs, which showed how hard they worked and what they had learned. Some groups made projects like traffic lights with different sensors, systems to detect temperature changes, and systems to detect sound levels. Everyone was really impressed with the presentations which made them get interested in taking the field of Electronics Engineering in the future. Engr. Valdueza and the other SBNCHS teachers praised the students for their hard work and smart thinking. They said that facing these challenges helped the students remember what they had learned during the training and workshop.
As this outreach activity has come to an end, the training-workshop proved to be a success, not only in imparting technical skills but also in fostering a passion for robotics among SHS students. Students are now excited and eager to learn more about the interesting world of robotics and electronics. Thanks to this outreach effort, which has successfully set the path for future collaborations and educational initiatives.