No s'mores, plenty of robots at futuristic children's camp
The thought of summer camp often conjures images of campfire sing-alongs, outdoor games and simple crafts, but children in Calgary have the option of a more futuristic experience this summer.
Dennis Kambeitz founded a camp where kids will learn about coding, 3D printing and artificial intelligence.
"The idea is to provide young children with the opportunity to learn about robotics and programming but it's very different," said Kambeitz on the Calgary Eyeopener.
Comfort with tech
Campers will build a robot in groups of two, then program it to perform tasks such as saying the camper's name, or dropping down to do push-ups.
The robots aren't cheap; they're worth about $600 by the end of the camp.
"What we want to really do is give kids a real strong understanding of 21st century technology and [have] a nice comfort with that,"said Kambeitz.
Way of the future
He believes the field of robotics today is viewed as a niche realm, much like computer programmers in the 1980s.
"Robotics is all around us today," said Kambeitz.
He expects demand for robotics knowledge to skyrocket over the next few years and predicts 45 per cent of jobs will be taken over — affecting 65 million people in Canada and the U.S.
There are still spaces for this summer. More information can be found on the website.
With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.
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