The University of Johannesburg has launched a new competition for kids interested in learning how to build robots.
The Afrikabot competition is part of a programme by the university and the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers dedicated to grooming a future generation of engineers - as well as making robotics more affordable.
"Young people who enjoy working with robotics are often good candidates for engineering courses. However, most robotics kits are so costly that few South Africans have the means to enter competitions." said Mr Michael Ettershank, manager of the RobotScience project at UJ.
"To make robotics accessible to disadvantaged learners the P1X8 robot is made in part from junk you may have lying around, while you build the electronics yourself from parts you can obtain from our supplier.
"You can choose to program the controller microchip with free text or graphical software available on the internet,” said Ettershank.
The university also has a YouTube channel dedicated to teaching kids how to build robots.
Lessons can also be accessed on their website.
The initiative will launch on 3 October 2015, with the first continent wide competition taking place in October 2016.
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