The Taiwan-based AI education firm and online learning platform AI4Kids recently held three intensive 4-day camps, centered around NVIDIA JetBot and the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute’s course Getting Started with AI on Jetson Nano.
The NVIDIA Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit Grant Program provided free developer kits received to over 600 high school and first-year college participants. Ideal for hands-on teaching, the kit is the perfect tool for introducing AI and robotics to a broad range of learners.
The summer camp programs covered a range of topics including robot design and industry applications, motion control, NLP, and neural networks. As part of the course, students had to complete several hands-on projects for evaluation, a key requirement in earning the Jetson AI Specialist certification.
Detecting Invasive Species
Demonstrating the capabilities of the Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit the team built an open-source project that detects green iguanas using several deep learning SDKs for training (TAO Toolkit) and inference (TensorRT, DeepStream). The rapid propagation of green iguanas, an alien invasive species in Taiwan, has had a detrimental impact not only on the general ecology but also on crop yields. Eventually, AI4Kids plans to work with Professor Hwaung Ing-Jer Huang at Sun Yat-Sen University Department to deploy the system throughout the countryside of southern Taiwan for further testing and field verification.
Taking to the Race Track
As part of the most recent AI4Kids summer camp cohort, attendees participated in a self-driving car competition at the China Science Robotics Base. Students spent four days covering machine learning and object detection basics, testing their JetBots, and racing other participants.
Working in pairs, students collected images of the square track, trained and corrected their AI models, and then performed multiple test verifications so they could fine-tune parameters. For a majority of the teams, this was their first time training their own AI model and they faced various obstacles, such as reflections on the track, uneven road surface, and poor control of the car body. Despite these hurdles, students found the course and final competition fulfilling.
“4 days ago, I had never come into contact with robots or Jetbot, but with the help of the teachers from AI4Kids, I was able to learn many things that I didn’t know before. I had an outstanding experience and enjoyed the hands-on operation and assembly. I hope to have the opportunity to come into contact with Jetson again in the future,” said one participant Hong and student from Nanhu High School.
Becoming Jetson Certified
While leading the various AI4Kids camps, Mr. Chia Cheng Hsu Hsu attained his own Jetson AI Ambassador certification. Built specifically for educators, this certificate builds on the Jetson AI Specialist certification and recognizes competency in teaching AI on the Jetson edge AI platform.
“I am deeply honored to be part of the NVIDIA AI Ambassador Program. NVIDIA has always been committed to bringing powerful and easy-to-use AI technology and education to the world. I am very happy to have such powerful resources to make AI education more accessible for everyone,” Hsu said.
AI4Kids will continue to partner with NVIDIA on education efforts in Taiwan, including an Edge AI Camp and Hackathon Competition for youth which will include the Jetson AI Certification program.
Learn more about curriculum, grants, and other offerings on the Jetson for AI Education page.
