Hi, I am Michihiro Hayashi, the advisor of the Design & Fabrication Club.
On Saturday, October 5, and Sunday, October 6, 2024, I took a business trip with the participating students to the Tokai-Hokuriku Regional ROBOCON 2024 held in Numazu City. Numazu City is located in the eastern part of Shizuoka Prefecture and is the furthest regional competition site from ICT. The students and their faculty advisors traveled there by chartered bus. The one-way trip was about 8 hours long. The students bought a lots of snacks and fast food at the rest area and ate them on the bus. Perhaps the souvenir shops on the highway were a rarity to them, especially since there are few stores around the Hakusanroku Campus.

The theme of this year's ROBOCON is “Return of the Robots,” and the rules call for a robot to launch an another robot, retrieve objects, and return. When the robot is launched, it inevitably receives a shock when it lands, which can cause the robot to break or malfunction, so a mechanism to absorb the shock is necessary. Also, when the robot returns after retrieving an object, some obstacles must be jumped over, so each team needs to be creative in their robot design.

Two teams from our school participated: Team A from Kanazawa Campus, “ХАЙРТАЙ ШҮҮ 3k”, and Team B from Hakusanroku Campus “Tobihoudai”. The captain of Team A was Sansar Sergelen, a 4th year student from Mongolia. Therefore, the team’s name is in Mongolian. If you are interested in the name of Team A, please look up the meaning and pronunciation.

Team A's robot was designed with airbags for shock absorption and an arm that extends like a crane when returning. With only three members, various tasks took time, and they couldn't fully adjust the robot by the final date. On the day of the competition, they continued making adjustments at the venue but unfortunately couldn't demonstrate the soft landing with the airbags. As a result, they lost both matches in the preliminary league. However, despite the small team, their innovative efforts were recognized, and they received the "DENSO Special Award."

Team B's robot was constructed so that it could continue to operate even if it was upside down on landing. They also built a robot that uses a rotating roller like a pitching machine to retrieve objects. The members gathered after school until just before the competition to continue adjusting the robot. However, they struggled to reduce the weight of the robot and were forced to bring the improved parts to the venue by bus. As a result, the robot was able to successfully pass the weighing and measuring inspection for the competition. In the competition, the students showed off how they flew and landed their robots and achieved one win and one loss in the preliminary league. The efforts of the younger students were also recognized, and they received the “Mabuchi Motor Special Award.”

Although neither team was able to advance to the final tournament or be nominated for the national tournament, I believe that they were able to fully demonstrate the results of their activities. Some students may have felt that they “failed” or “felt frustrated,” but I hope that these feelings will become rich nourishment for their future.

Michihiro Hayashi

 Hello, this is Arihiro Kodaka, Dean of Student Affairs. This time, I would like to write about the details of the students' participation in community planning and management

 On Monday, September 23rd, 2024 (Autumnal Equinox Day), a marking event for the Asagimadara (*) (Chestnut Tiger Butterfly) was held in the field across from Hakusanroku Campus.

(*) The Asagimadara is a butterfly named for its wings, which are light blue with mottled patterns. It is a butterfly that migrates several thousand kilometers across the ocean. In order to track their migration patterns, the less powdery light blue parts of their wings are marked with the date and capture location using a permanent marker. The Asagimadara are attracted to flowers in the Asteraceae family, such as the Fujibakama flower (boneset) and the toxins in the nectar help them with reproduction and protection. Additionally, one of the characters in the anime Demon Slayer is inspired by this butterfly.

For information on last year’s Asagimadara marking event.

 2nd year students supported an event organized by the Tatsunokuchi Community Development Council, Hakusanroku Satoyama Revitalization Council, and the Asagimadara Fan Club. In a fallow field across from Hakusanroku Campus, fujibakama flowers are cultivated to attract the Asagimadara. In the Engineering Design class, the Agribusiness team of students started planning in April of this year, aiming to utilize Asagimadara as an environmental resource to boost the local community. Through creative ideas and a fresh, student-oriented perspective, they tackled the challenge of revitalizing the area.

 The students aimed to create continuous interactions between local residents and non-residents through the event, ensuring that everyone involved would have lasting memories. They put great effort into the planning and organization, incorporating many thoughtful details to achieve this goal.

Photo Spot

 A photo spot created by students was set up for everyone who came to see the Asagimadara, and many people took pictures there. I was happy to see visitors taking memorable photos at the photo spot, and I believe that we were able to respond to their desire to preserve their memories.

Making Goods with Elementary School Students

 Elementary school students who participated in the marking event spent the afternoon making original goods under the guidance of ICT 2nd year students. The goods were hair clips and magnets with Asagimadara images, and the elementary school students added decorations and finishing touches by devising color schemes and decorations.

 

Merchandise Sales and Hands-on Crafting Experience Activities.

 For those who stopped by the Sena Roadside Station, learned about this event, and observed Asagimadara, students sold a capsule toy key chain with an illustrated book describing the ecology of the Asagimadara. Additionally, a hands-on workshop was held where participants could use a laser utter to create their own keychains as a keepsake. These activities were part of a unique initiative by ICT students.

 The students thought about how local residents and the visitors could be involved in the project and implemented it. Afterwards, the students reflected on the event and voiced many opinions about how to make the next event even more fulfilling. The students who will take over in the next year are expected to take this feedback into account and make the event better.

 This year, perhaps due to the hot weather, the number of Asagimadara was very small, but I hope that next year many more Asagimadara will visit.

　Hello, this is Yuri Makada from the Hakusanroku office. This time, I would like to write about the harvest of Beniharuka sweet potatoes by the Engineering Design IIA (2nd year) class.

 In the 2nd year Engineering Design IIA class, students are tackling issues facing the mountainous regions in HAKUSANROKU (Foothills of Mt. Hakusan), such as abandoned farmland, and increasing animal damage. The students are divided into two groups, the Agribusiness Group and the Tech Group. The Agribusiness Group grows sweet potatoes called Beniharuka in a fallow field across from the school and experiences managing an agricultural business through the process of sales, marketing, and accounting. The Tech Team is working to develop an AI and IoT enabled animal damage prevention system. 

 On Thursday, September 12th, 2024, the Agribusiness Team worked on harvesting Beniharuka sweet potatoes in extremely hot weather with temperatures over 30 ℃ around HAKUSANROKU. President Masaaki Shikada also participated in the harvest. Also, this year, there was no animal damage because an electric fence was installed to prevent monkeys from entering the fields. Additionally, there were fewer small sweet potatoes than previous years, and it seemed that the climate conditions this season were more favorable than last year. However, it was extremely hot that day, and after harvesting about one-third of the Beniharuka sweet potatoes in about two hours, we finished for the day.

 I also participated in the harvest of Beniharuka sweet potatoes on that day, and I found that cutting the vines at the base of the sweet potatoes, removing the mulch, and the actual harvest itself were much more physically demanding than I had expected. It was also a battle against the heat. The students with their faces flushed from the heat, took breaks, stayed hydrated, and diligently focused on their work. I was truly impressed by their dedication.

 On the evening of Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, the rest of the Beniharuka sweet potato were harvested. Unlike the previous harvest day, the temperature was a bit cooler, and the cloudy weather made for a more comfortable working environment. Students spent about three hours harvesting the potatoes. Although not all Agribusiness Group members could attend due to other extracurricular activities, a few members from the Tech Team came to help, and we successfully finished harvesting the remaining Beniharuka sweet potatoes. Overall, many of the Beniharuka sweet potatoes were of excellent size and shape. Despite planting the same number of plants as last year, we harvested 349 kg this year, about 1.7 times more than last year—a record harvest!

 The harvested Beniharuka sweet potatoes will be aged in the warehouse inside the school for about a month, allowing the starch to convert into sugars. They are scheduled to be shipped as raw sweet potatoes to Sena Roadside Station across from the school on Monday, October 28th. On Sunday, November 3rd and Monday, November 4th, the students will be selling baked sweet potatoes and original goods featuring the Kosen Beniharuka at Sena Roadside Station. Additionally, our school will hold an open campus on Sunday, November 3rd. If you are planning to attend on this day and have the time, we are looking forward to seeing you at Sena Roadside Station!
Click here for open campus details

Yuri Makada

　こんにちは。白山麓高専事務室の間加田 侑里です。今回は2024年7月19日（金）に行われたエンジニアリングデザインⅠA（1年生）の最終ポスター発表について紹介します。
　1年生が履修するエンジニアリングデザインⅠAの授業では、日常生活の問題を発見し、その解決策を考えるためのプロジェクト活動を行います。学生たちは基礎知識や手法を学びながら、アイデアを素早く試作し、カタチにすることで価値を創造する楽しさを体験します。
　今回の課題は、「毎日使う最悪のもの」をリデザインし、その不便な点を解決することでした。学生たちは、寮や学生生活の中で不便に感じるさまざまなアイテムに注目しました。

 Hello, this is Yuri Makada from the Hakusanroku office. This time, I would like to write about the final Engineering Design IA poster presentation held on Friday, July 19th.
 In the 1^st year Engineering Design IA class, they identify problems in daily life and conduct project activities to devise solutions. While learning basic knowledge and techniques, students quickly prototype their ideas and experience the joy of creating value by bringing these ideas to life.
 This time, the task was to redesign “their worst everyday item” and solve its inconvenient aspects. The students focused on various items they found inconvenient in their dormitory and daily student life.

　最初の授業では、学生たちはドローイングスキルを学び、プロトタイプなどの図面を正確に描く能力を身につけました。チームでアイデアを出し合い、それを視覚化して他者に正しく伝えるためには、コミュニケーションツールとしてドローイングスキルが重要です。まず学生たちは、立体の図形や携帯電話、マグカップなどの立体物の描き方を学んだ後、テーマである「毎日使う最悪のもの」を改善するための解決策を20個以上スケッチしました。

 In the first class, students learned drawing skills and developed the ability to accurately draw prototypes. Drawing skills are crucial as a communication tool for brainstorming ideas in teams, visualizing them, and conveying them correctly to others. First, the students learned how to draw three-dimensional objects such as geometric shapes, cell phones, and mugs. Afterwards, they sketched more than 20 solutions to improve “their worst everyday item.”

　次に20個のスケッチの中から1個を選び、教員たちにスケッチを見せながら英語でプレゼンテーションを行い、フィードバックを受けるデザインレビューセッションが行われました。 そこでは、学生たちはモノの機能や、安全性、デザイン、素材、必要性等について発表し、教員たちからフィードバックを受けました。

 Next, each student selected one sketch from the 20 they created and presented it in English to their teachers during a design review session. In this session, the students explained the functionality, safety, design, materials, and necessity of their items and received feedback from their teachers.

　次に、段ボールや紙を使って簡易的な模型を製作し、サイズや機構を検証し、製作に必要なアイテムやコストを確認した後、コンピュータスキルズの授業で学んでいる「Fusion360」や「イラストレータ」を応用して３Dモデル等を設計し、3Dプリンターやレーザーカッターなどを使って実際にプロトタイプを製作しました。

 Then, students built a simple model using cardboard and paper to confirm the size and design of their prototype. After that, students designed virtual 3D models by applying the Fusion360 and Illustrator skills which they are learning in Computer Skills class, and actually made physical prototypes using 3D printers and laser cutters.

 　最終授業ではポスター発表が行われました。学生たちは実際に製作したモノを紹介しながら、そのプロセス、問題解決の方法、ユーザーニーズ、使用結果の検証、今後の改善点、結論等を発表し、審査員の教員たちから質疑が行われました。 

 The final class was a poster presentation session where the students presented their prototypes, including the process, problem solving methods, user needs, verification of results, future improvements, and conclusions while introducing the actual products they produced. After the presentations, students answered questions from the faculty.

　学生たちはユニークな想像・アイデアを形にしていくプロセスを体験し、アイデア創出の楽しさを確認できたのではないでしょうか。今回の授業で得た新たな学びは、今後の活動に繋がることでしょう。

 The students experienced the process of turning their imaginations and unique ideas into tangible forms, and likely found joy in the creation of new ideas. The new knowledge gained from this class will surely contribute to their future activities.

間加田 侑里
Yuri Makada

 Hello, this is Apirak Sang-ngenchai, the learning mentor. It's been a while since I’ve posted an article. Anyway, I want to share some of the awesome activities we did last semester.

　こんにちは、ラーニングメンターのアピラク・サンゲンチャイです。久しぶりの白山麓ジャーナル投稿です。さて、前年度の後学期に行われたいくつかの活動の中から一部を紹介したいと思います。

 AI is everywhere these days, and it's changing how we do things in all kinds of fields. One interesting area is human activity recognition (HAR), where AI helps people understand and analyze what they are doing based on data from sensors or cameras. Mediapipe, a tool from Google, is super useful for this and is used to develop it in this workshop.

　近年、AI技術の進化により、さまざまな分野に影響をもたらしています。興味深い分野の一つに人間の行動認識（HAR）というものがあります。これはAIがセンサーやカメラのデータを基に、人々の行動を認識し分析する技術です。GoogleのツールであるMediapipe（メディアパイプ）は、この分野で非常に役立つものであり、私達の行ったワークショップの中でも実際に使用したことがあります。今回はその様子を紹介したいと思います。

 Every Friday, the students have an optional learning session. The Learning Mentor holds a variety of workshop to help them learn something outside their regular class topics or to improve their learning skills. I decided to hold a workshop called "Learning Friday," where students got hands-on experience with Google Mediapipe. They learned how to extract body joints using Mediapipe through Python programming, which provided a great way to gain coding experience. The session was highly interactive and fun, allowing everyone to experiment and learn together in a relaxed setting.

 　毎週金曜日は、学生たちが参加を選択できるラーニングセッションが実施されます。授業の学習内容とは異なることを学んだり、学習スキルを向上させるために、ラーニングメンターによって様々なワークショップが開催されます。そこで私は、学生たちが Google Mediapipe を実際に体験できる「ラーニングフライデー」というワークショップを開催することにしました。その中で学生たちは、Pythonプログラミングを通じて Mediapipe を使用し、体の骨格や関節を検出する方法を学びました。これは、コーディングの経験を積むのにとても良い方法となりました。また、このラーニングフライデーは非常に対話的で楽しく、リラックスした雰囲気の中で全員が一緒に実験したり学べる時間を持つことができました。

 Learning to code in AI is really important for students. It not only opens up lots of job opportunities but also helps develop problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. Getting comfortable with AI tools like Mediapipe means students can participate in the latest tech developments. This workshop was a perfect way to help them prepare for the future.

　AIのコーディングを学ぶことはとても重要です。より多くの職業への機会が開かれるだけでなく、問題解決や批判的に考える能力も備わります。そしてMediapipeのようなAIツールに慣れることで、最新の技術開発に参加できるようになります。その学びとしてこのワークショップは、将来へ向けての経験を積むためのとても有意義な時間となりました。

 

 

  Haruto Shiraishi, a current 3rd year student who participated in this workshop in the last semester of last school year, He wrote a journal. Please take a look!

　昨年度の後学期に、このワークショップに参加した現在3年生の白石 春翔さんが、白山麓ジャーナルを書きました。どうぞご覧ください！

Apirak Sang-ngenchai
アピラク・サンゲンチャイ

　こんにちは、この「ラーニングフライデー」ワークショップを受講した３年生の白石 春翔です。ここで学習したことや感じたことなどをこのジャーナルにまとめたいと思います。

 Hello, this is Haruto Shiraishi, a 3rd year student who took this "Learning Friday" workshop. I would like to summarize what I learned and felt here in this journal.

　さて、近年AI技術は日々進化しその活用方法も多様化され様々な場面で活用されるようになりました。そんな中、授業の一環でAIを活用し農作物を猿から守るシステムを開発する機会があり、実際にアピラク先生の指導の下、猿と人間それぞれを機械学習させ判別しLINEに通知を送るシステムを構築しました。他にもAIを活用して表情を読み取るなど、長期間で様々な方法で挑戦してきました。

 In recent years, AI technology has been evolving day by day, and its applications have become diversified and are used in various situations. Under the guidance of Apirak sensei, we constructed a system that sends notifications to LINE after machine learning and discriminating between monkeys and humans. We also used AI to read facial expressions, and we challenged ourselves in many other ways over a long period of time.

　これらの活動を通してAIについて興味を持ち、もっと色々な場面で活用できるのではないかと考えました。そこで先生が人間の活動認識（HAR）を利用しヨガのポーズを判別するシステムを制作していたことを思い出しました。この技術には凡用性がありロボットなどにも応用できそうだと感じ、先生にお願いしました。

 Through these activities, I became interested in AI and wondered if it could be used in many more situations. Then, I remembered that my professor had created a system that used human activity recognition (HAR) to identify yoga poses. I felt this technology had potential applications in robotics and other fields, so I asked him to help us.

　実際に学習していく中で難しいと感じたところは100行以上からなるコードを理解する事でした。しかし一つ一つ読み解き、書くことで明確に理解することができました。また、自分でも少しコードを変更したり、様々な画像や動画を使って試す事で理解が深まりました。

 The most difficult part of the course was to understand the code, which consisted of more than 100 lines. However, by reading and writing the code one by one, I was able to understand it clearly, and I was able to deepen my understanding by modifying the code a little myself and experimenting with various images and videos.

　製作段階で終わってしまいましたが、ここで学習したことを活用し、ロボットアームを制御することにも挑戦しました。

 Although it ended up in the production stage, we also tried to control the robot arm using what we had learned here.

　今後はこれらのAI技術を応用し、様々な社会課題の解決に貢献できる製品の開発に取り組んでいきたいと思います。

 In the future, I would like to apply these AI technologies to develop products that can contribute to solving various social issues.

白石 春翔
Haruto Shiraishi