Workshops

Holiday workshops: Introduction to robotics week (ages 15–18)

Image credit: Tim Mitchell

During this week-long course, students will learn a wide variety of topics related to robotics and artificial intelligence, working in teams to design, build and program their own robots.

Rustam Stolkin and Peter Brewer will cover both mechanical and computational aspects of robotics, as well as exploring a variety of application areas and introducing the latest research areas, drawing on their own projects with industry and academia.

During the five days of activities, students will work in teams to invent, design, build, program and demonstrate their own remote-controlled underwater retrieval robot.

The hands-on work is interspersed with a series of mini lectures and led group discussions. These present broader areas of robotics, artificial intelligence and comparisons to human/animal intelligence, as well as exploring the mathematics, physics, engineering and computing which the students will need to develop their projects.

This workshop is strictly for 15–18 year-olds and will include a 30 minute lunch break, during which students will be allowed to leave the Ri building. Students should bring lunch and a drink. We reserve the right to refund or deny entry to those who are not in this age range. 

Please note that closed toe shoes must be worn as this workshop takes place in our lab. 

Refunds can only be issued for tickets cancelled at least two weeks (14 calendar days) in advance of the event date. Please note that this supersedes our normal event terms and conditions. Please also note that Eventbrite adds a small booking fee to the amount paid for each ticket option.

About Rustam Stolkin and Peter Brewer

Rustam Stolkin is Senior Birmingham Fellow in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Birmingham. He achieved undergraduate and master’s degrees in Engineering from Oxford University, and a PhD in Robotic Vision from UCL. He has three patents and some 60 publications on robotics and other areas of science, engineering and applied mathematics. His research collaborates extensively with industry: defence (bomb disposal and rescue robots), nuclear (robotics for cleaning up nuclear waste), and manufacturing (advanced robotics for factory automation). Rustam is particularly interested in education, and has spent many years working with young people, in both UK and USA, teaching science through engaging hands–on activities.

Peter Brewer manages large scale multi million-pound AI Robotics research projects for the University of Birmingham and manages one of the UK's leading robotics labs dedicated to Autonomous AI controlled Robotics in extreme environments. As a ambassador for STEM and with a degree in Computer Science and AI, specialising in AI Robotics, Peter has spent over 20 years in the field working on cutting edge technologies specialising in Electronics, Computer Science, AI and Robotics Research, and the last decade also developing and delivering STEM community outreach masterclasses and exhibition demo events in these subject areas across the UK. 

About our workshops

Holiday workshops at the Royal Institution give students a hands-on experience of STEM topics (science, technology, engineering, maths) beyond what they learn at school. Working in groups or pairs, students will get hands-on to complete activities, challenges or projects which help them look deeper at the subject they are exploring. These workshops don’t follow the school curriculum but instead show students the many real world uses of STEM topics, expanding their horizons beyond the classroom to see the amazing possibilities science can give you. Sessions are led by experts from across industry and academia who will share with the students their excitement and knowledge of their areas of expertise.

For any queries regarding this workshop please email events@ri.ac.uk.

Support to attend holiday workshops

The Potential Trust may be able to offer financial assistance to enable children to participate in Ri events and activities if this would otherwise be financially difficult. Please contact Denise Yates, or at their new email address here

 

 

Covid guidelines

Face masks are no longer mandatory and wearing one in our Theatre and at other Ri events is at your discretion, however please do not attend the Ri if you are displaying Covid symptoms or, if you have tested, the result remains positive. Thank you for respecting other people and their choices, and for helping us keep all of our visitors and staff safe and well.

Event terms and conditions