An Edmonton summer camp introduces youth to a near future in which robots are more commonplace in the workplace and everyday life. NorQuest College’s five-day camp for students aged 14 to 17 introduces them to the creation of the technology through programming and 3D printing. Instructor Riley Dawson said he was excited to design the hands-on course. “You can feel what the limitations are while you’re building it,” he told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday in a lab at the downtown school. “You can get really creative and imaginative with what you’re building.” What the students are building is a robotic arm that they will take home with them at the end of the week. Dawson said the course gives students a cursory overview of programming and 3D printing, starting them with relatively simple software before moving onto more complex, commercial programs used by working engineers to design and build parts. “The opportunity for them to see what interests them and what they’re excited about kicks off a passion that hopefully will follow them through life,” he said. NorQuest is offering the course again next month. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Noah Rishaug
