Robotics Education Foundation - In the News

Robots Will Learn Why the Titanic Sank

Gary Kolesar — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 14:32:01 GMT

Robot Procreation - The Potentuially Bad Side

Gary Kolesar — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:10:48 GMT

"Terminator" apocalyptic robot takeovers of humanity have been considered since long before Arnold Schwazzeneger morphed into "The Governator". Yet you really must wonder if there is a kernel of truth in these dark visions of the future.

Robots have been a benign influence on our world so far, and most have obeyed Isaak Asomov's "three laws," even given the increasingly popular combat robot events and their roles in modern warfare.

Wired magazine recently reported a new robotics initiatve by the U.S. Navy that intends to create robots capable of creating other robots. How long this will take to create, and exactly what will be created is anyone's guess, but people are thinking that this technology will allow what are called "semi-autonomous robots" to use relatively simple technologies to create additional programmable machines. "Who made who?" may become a big question in the future.

Let's hope they like us... For more information, visit the Wired website - http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/03/navy-robot-apocalypse/.

Robot Man and Woman-Servants are Ready to Explore Space

Gary Kolesar — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:34:09 GMT

Space is deep and deep is the need for help out there. Robots are ready, willing and able.

Unlike your traditional English butler, there to bring tea and crumpets, Robots made by General Motors and NASA are ready to handle the new century's service needs in space. Robonauts are moving quickly into the future. They look a bit like C3PO from Star Wars, but perhaps without the sarcastic attitude (at least not yet).

Tasks in space involve a great many repetitive actions. Logic and judgement on the part of the human crew are dependent on their ability to avoid the distractions inherant in the daily rituals of living in a harsh and different environment. Everyone involved in a space intitiative has a role to play and robots have well-earned theirs.

Get a good look at all that's going on with this amazing technology - here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41744806/ns/technology_and_science-space/?GT1=43001

News Corp.'s iPad Daily To Use Drone Choppers For Newsgathering? (NY Observer)

Gary Kolesar — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 14:15:24 GMT

News Corp.'s iPad Daily To Use Drone Choppers For Newsgathering? (NY Observer)
Sources say that News Corp.'s much-anticipated The Daily iPad "newspaper" is experimenting with an investigative secret weapon -- the Parrot AR.Drone "quadricopter." It comes equipped with two cameras, an on-board Wi-Fi transmitter, two interchangeable hulls, and an "ultrasound altimeter." Best of all, it can be controlled with an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.
Click here for details.

President Obama visits Robots in Japan

Gary Kolesar — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 13:21:10 GMT

President Obama in his recent visit to Asia, found time in Japan to sit in Toyota’s I_REAL personal transportation vehicle, check out Paro, the robot baby seal and much more. Check out Via IEEE Spectrum

Robot World 2010 Conference in Korea

Gary Kolesar — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 17:02:31 GMT

Robot World was held in Korea 10/28 – 10/31. It was a far ranging show exhibiting Korea’s considerable service, industrial and military robots. Robots from France, Taiwan and other countries were there.

For the full article, visit Plastic Pals

Water-proof Servos from Hitec

Gary Kolesar — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 15:38:56 GMT

World leader in servos, Hitec Robotics, has introduced new water-proof servos for ROV robotics for hobbyists, students and researchers.

Water-proof Servos from Hitec

Gary Kolesar — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 15:32:32 GMT

World leader in servos, Hitec Robotics, has introduced new water-proof servos for ROV robotics for hobbyists, students and researchers. For details, visit http://www.robotshop.com/blog/robotshop

Making Robots More Like Us

Kevin McCann — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:53:06 GMT

As a professor in the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science, Daniel Lee works on important -- and sometimes well-funded -- research projects that advance humankind's scientific knowledge and understanding.

Over the last five years, Lee's projects have included coaching a highly-competitive canine soccer team, entering a challenging road race in the California desert and teaching a dog how to do a back flip. That last one is even harder than it sounds, as Lee recently demonstrated. The pooch successfully flipped backwards on a rubber mat on top of a three-foot high demonstration table but then caught the edge and fell on the floor with a loud thud. Said Lee: "Sometimes they're not so intelligent."

Lee's subject was not a real dog, but a Sony Aibo -- a robot. And while there is an element of whimsy in his research, Lee's projects -- teaching robotic dogs to play soccer as a cohesive team, or programming a car with sensors and small motors to navigate a traffic-laden city street with no driver -- all advance the professor's ambitious goal. Quite simply, he wants to learn how to make robots think and act like humans.

At a recent lecture titled, "Smart Robots: What's Next?" sponsored by the Executive Master's in Technology Management program -- a partnership of Penn Engineering and Wharton -- Lee said there is much to be learned before robots can routinely behave like humans in a broad range of tasks. For many years, the challenge was in the basic technology that makes robots work. But despite advances in that technology, human-like intelligence -- even the ability to recognize a face -- remains beyond our current reach, Lee noted as he posed a key question for his field: "What makes it so hard to build something intelligent?"

Replacing Human Soldiers

The answer is more than merely academic. In the United States, the Pentagon is spending billions -- as much as $100 billion over a number of years, according to some technology analysts -- to develop robots that can aid or replace human soldiers. The U.S. Department of Defense's Future Combat Systems (FCS) modernization initiative is funding research to develop that technology. Among its recipients are Lee and others on a Penn team that was awarded $22 million by the Army Research Lab to create robots that can operate in combat zones with little supervision.

While military uses have tended to dominate commercial development of autonomous robots in America, business opportunities for smart robots are also sizable, according to Lee, who points out that Japan's research into intelligent robotics has been oriented towards helping that nation's rapidly aging population perform domestic tasks.

Advanced research into artificial intelligence may take commercial development of robots beyond what one expert recently called "the three Ds -- anything dull, dirty or dangerous." On March 31, Honda demonstrated a helmet-like device that can read human brain waves and transmit them to a humanoid robot, also built by Honda. With such a device, a person can make the robot, named Asimo, perform simple tasks, including moving its arm.

"In Japan, they see robots as a kind of service," said Lee, while in the United States there is slower movement toward commercial tasks for robots. "In the U.S., the National Science Foundation is funding a lot of the work so there is a mixture, but it's more from the defense budget."

Lee envisions commercial applications down the road. Current research on these technologies has great potential to impact future industries and businesses. "We can now build miniaturized devices and equipment containing many sensors, actuators and computational electronics; the only problem is getting them to perform intelligently and robustly in a variety of environments. Not only will future gadgets store information and allow users to play games, but they will also be more helpful," he says.

Penn Engineering professor Daniel Lee demonstrates advances in robotics

A physicist by training with an undergraduate degree from Harvard and a PhD in condensed matter physics from MIT, Lee was drawn toward the study of robots after he went to work for Bell Labs during the 1990s. He wanted to learn more about why -- despite rapid advances in computer technology -- robots were still unable to perform tasks that humans and other animals can handle with ease. In particular, Lee now studies the biology of living creatures to better understand how we compute information, and works to transfer that information to the world of robots.

"You [have] all these devices with all these computerized [components] and all these sensors, but people don't know what to do with them," Lee said of the current state of robot development. To build a smarter machine, the best road map to follow is the human brain.

The notion of mimicking biology to advance technology is not a new concept. Lee noted that before the idea of aerodynamic lift was first applied in the early 20^th century, people believed you only needed wings to be able to fly. "You would see a guy put on a pair of wings and jump from a building -- but that didn't work very well." The Wright Brothers' successful flight in 1903 was, in part, a result of studying more closely the real mechanics of bird flight. Birds flap their wings for stability and propulsion -- but they fly because the curvature of their wings speeding through the air creates more air pressure below them than above them, providing the lift necessary for flight. "So the pilot's main job became to pull a flap to warp the wings of the flying machine."

But the human brain is much more difficult to replicate than a bird's wings.

Computers can apply "brute force" number crunching to outplay a chess champion, Lee noted, but that approach can only be taken so far. The brain, he said, is a much more elegant machine that is far from fully understood. "Traditional computer algorithms which do fast search and brute computation will not make machines intelligent. So we need to develop algorithms that approach these problems in different ways in order to build robots that can perform in complex environments. There has been some nice work already, but there is still a very long ways to go before a machine can be as smart as a dog."

However, other feats of biological creatures have been mastered with robots -- as Lee demonstrated with his Sony Aibo. "Hello," he shouted to the electronic canine, causing the device to pivot its head directly toward him. He walked to the other side and said, "Hey, over here," and the robot spun its head around. To develop this robot skill, designers had to develop sensors for sound that would mimic human sound-processing: Nanosecond differences in the arrival of sound waves to the left or right sensor tell the robot where the sound originated, and which way to turn its head.

Over time, Lee said, the steady improvement in robots' ability to sense their surroundings and perform motorized tasks will enhance their artificial intelligence -- their ability to perform certain tasks without continuous human guidance. This is where international soccer competitions involving four-robot teams of the Sony Aibo dogs have proved both a fun diversion and invaluable learning tool for Lee and his students.

The "UPennalyzers" -- a soccer team created by Lee, Penn engineering students and faculty -- consists of four robotic dogs, each embedded with computers programmed to use their sensors to analyze the field of play. They use wireless communications to talk with their teammates -- but they are not controlled by humans during the course of the 20-minute games, which are played on a three-meter by five-meter field.

Lee said the robot games were crude at first. "Ever see a six- or seven-year-old [kids'] soccer game, where everybody goes after the ball at the same time? That's how this was, so the ball would go into the corner for a half-hour, or they would kick it into their own goal." But over time, the robots developed the intelligence to play soccer at a higher level, as Lee demonstrated with a video of a sophisticated goal by the UPennalyzers in their most recent match. "Now they can communicate: 'You go for the ball and I'll play defense.'"

One reason the team uses robotic dogs instead of humanoid robots is that two-legged locomotion has proved extremely difficult for robots. In recent years, Lee and his team have received at least $3.5 million in grant money from DARPA -- the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -- to teach robots to walk and also to develop a class of robots that can use sensors to autonomously navigate difficult terrain. The military advantages of such devices, which could transport heavy loads over mountains or across deserts in a dangerous combat zone, are obvious, but successful two-legged navigation remains something of a Holy Grail for robot programmers. "They want a machine that can walk on its own with 200 pounds over a mountain, because you can't take a car up a trail," he said.

New Use for Cigarette Lighters?

However, developing driverless smart cars -- a project that's also the recipient of significant DARPA funding, with the ambitious goal of making one-third of U.S. military vehicle transportation driverless by 2015 -- has proven both more successful and a source of competitive pride for Lee and his students. They recently were among just six teams to complete the entire course at the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge in Victorville, Calif., held on the streets of an abandoned U.S. Air Force base.

"Little Ben" -- the name that the Ben Franklin Team, composed of students and faculty from both Penn and Lehigh, gave to their overhauled Toyota Prius -- had to navigate city streets while obeying traffic laws and signs and avoiding collisions with the other finalists. To make the event more realistic and challenging, there were also 50 human test drivers, wearing crash helmets, cruising the streets in their vehicles. A cast of onlookers stood behind thick concrete barriers.

Carnegie Mellon University, working with General Motors, won the event and the $2 million cash prize; Stanford University received federal funding to develop their robotic smart cars. With less money available, the Ben Franklin Team developed a car that required less power -- and burned less gas -- by clever placement of fewer sensors. Said Lee: "With the Prius, we were able to use the cigarette lighter to power all the computers on board."

Lee told his Penn audience there will be a sure way to know when robots have reached the next level of intelligence, and that is when they have mastered the highly complex human task of loading a dishwasher. "Industrial automated robots took us a long time," he said, "and now we need a way to get a robot to load a dishwasher, when every night you have a different set of dishes and glasses."

An Update on the National Robotics Challenge

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:13:11 GMT

For the past five years the NRC (formerly the SME Robotics Technology and Engineering Challenge) has seen continual growth and success with the support of organizations like Intelitek, Honda, SME Education Foundation, TODCO and more. This year the NRC has added three exciting events to further enhance their competition.

The first is a VEX only competition on April 16th. For this competition, they will be using the VEX Elevation competition and teams can qualify from the event to compete in the 2009 VEX Robotics Competition World Championship at the end of April.

The second event called AgBot was developed in partnership with Ohio 4-H and is open to elementary students as young as third grade. In this event students design, build and program a robot that completes agriculture based tasks such as delivering hay to the bull and planting a field. Typically these students will be using the LEGO robotics system for the building platform of this event. However, the building
platform is open so teams can try different ideas and concepts such as integrating other devices or developing their own robot from scratch. This event has been also accepted as the official 4-H robotics competition of the 2009 Ohio State Fair.

The final addition to the 2009 NRC is the Math Machines Challenge. In this event students will use a Math Machines ACV which is a mobile robot base that is controlled by a TI-83 or TI-84 calculator. The goal of this event is to bring math teachers and students that may not have considered robotics as vehicle for instruction into the competitive arena. For this event the NRC received a grant from Honda of America to provide robotic kits and training to 20 math and technology teachers in the hopes of getting robotics into current middle and high school math classes.

In all, the NRC offers thirteen competitive events in robotics to elementary, middle, high school and post-secondary students in the US.

The "Robot of the Year" award has been replaced with the "Honda Innovation Award" This award will include a $500.00 donation to the winning program. Judges from each of the 13 competition categories will nominate one entry to be judged for this award. The Honda Innovation Award judges will then select the overall winner from the 13 nominated entries. Each nominated team will receive a plaque to commemorate their outstanding entry and the winning team will receive a laser engraved award and a $500.00 check for their
robotics team. The teams selected for this award will have shown outstanding innovation and creativity in the design, construction, or programming of their robot or robotics
system.

The National Robotics Challenge has started a social networking site for teachers and students to share information and get help from other students and advisors as well as engineers and other professional contacts that may decide to join. People can post discussions, blogs, pictures, videos and more. Join by clicking: http://robots.ning.com/main/authorization/signUp

Once people are a member they can invite other people that to help answer questions or post interesting content.

RoboBusiness 2009 Now Taking Registrations

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:12:24 GMT

The 2009 RoboBusiness conference will be taking place April 15 and 16th at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

If you are a business or technical professional looking to develop, understand or invest in the next generation of robotics, automation and intelligent systems products and technology, you cannot afford to miss this important event.

Attend RoboBusiness and learn:

* The anticipated revenue and unit volume trends for the mobile robotics and intelligent systems market
* The best ways to exploit robotics product and partnership opportunities
* The state of investment in the mobile robotics and intelligent systems market
* What robotic technology and standards currently exist in the open marketplace
* What solutions available today can be applied to solve different problem sets
* How robotics functionality can be added to existing products and services
* What industries and vertical market segments robotics are showing the greatest growth
* What are the opportunities for healthcare automation, lifestyle enhancement and medical robotics

To register or find out more about the event, please visit http://www.robobusiness.com/registration/register_now

BEST: Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:11:31 GMT

BEST is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization whose mission is to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science, and technology through participation in a sports-like, science and engineering-based robotics competition.

Started in 1993 with 14 competing schools and 221 students, today BEST has over 700 middle and high schools and over 10,000 students participating each fall. There is no fee for schools to compete in BEST.
BEST features two parallel competitions: A robotics game, which is based upon an annual theme with four teams competing at once in a series of three-minute, round-robin matches.

The BEST Award, which is presented to the team that best embodies the concept of Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology. Elements include a project summary notebook, oral presentation, table display, and spirit and sportsmanship.

Each school is provided kits of equipment and parts, a set of game rules, and given six weeks to design, build, and test a small Radio/Controlled (R/C) robot that outperforms other robots. The machines they build cannot weigh more than 24 pounds, must fit within a 24-inch cube, and must be built only from the raw materials supplied to them by the local hub. Winning teams from local competition sites (called “hubs”) advance to regional championship sites (“regionals”).

Engineers and other technical professionals from local industries serve as team mentors who advise and guide students through the design and construction of their machines.

Anyone—colleges/universities, corporations, individuals—can start a new hub serving a minimum of eight teams. The average first-year cost for running a 24-team hub is approximately $28,000. Local hubs rely on financial support from corporations and/or colleges/universities in order to allow schools to participate at no cost.

For more information, visit http://http://www.bestinc.org/

Robotics Inside-Out: A Step into the Technological World

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:10:42 GMT

On Saturday, October 25, Bridgewater Raynham Regional High School in Bridgewater, Massachusetts held its first annual Robotics Conference. Robotics Inside-Out was hosted by TJ², the local FIRST Robotics Team, one of the veteran teams of the fourteen-year-old organization that pairs engineers with students in a challenging learning environment.

The conference drew people from all around the country who were interested in the growing field of robotics, from Indiana to nearby New England States. Donald Mazzella, board member of the National Robotics Education Foundation, came to oversee the proceedings and co-host the event with Liz Calef and Anne Hall from TJ². To introduce teachers to Lego Mindstorm LXT kits, Kevin Staszowski of The Tufts University Center for Engineering Educational Outreach guided them through the production of a simple robot to wet their appetites and to teach them skills they can take back to their schools.

During the catered lunch, a panel assembled for the discussion of tech-related questions involving robotics in education and the real world. Thomas Calef, a former member of TJ² and current engineer for Hatch Technologies, talked of how the FIRST robotics team taught him important life skills and how it inspired him to become an engineer. From a different stand-point, Tom Atwood, Editor-in-Chief of Robot Magazine, spoke of the importance of engineering in the everyday life, and how the new generation of engineers needs to be broadened to include more people that are able to cope with new issues that the current generations have yet to solve.

Between lunch and presentations, the members of TJ², decked in their tie-dye uniforms, guided attendees around the High School and gave them a closer look at how a robotics team is run. In their two-year-old 'robot room' they gave lessons on how to create your own tie-dye, for the team makes all of their uniforms from plain white shirts. Some students were hard at work in one of the classrooms at their disposal creating robots from Vex kits for this year's Savage Soccer game, which is a competition held by Worchester Polytechnic Institute each year.

Representatives from Vex Robotics and Autodesk were present at Robotics Inside-Out to pique the interest of teachers interested in starting a team and answer questions for all on the systems. Brad Lauer, Senior Manager of Vex Robotics Design System said "Vex is excited to be here with Autodesk and to have the opportunity to show the teachers and students how to transfer their enthusiasm into real-world skills. I have to thank TJ² for taking this idea and making it into a reality. We are looking forward to coming back next year." Not to be out-done, Greg Donald, the Sales Executive from Autodesk, said "Autodesk is pleased to be here with Vex Robotics…we were delighted to have the opportunity to attend the first-annual New England Robotics Conference and to talk to parents and educators about the curriculum we developed to introduce robotics into the classroom. It is great to see growing support for robotics education in Massachusetts. We look forward to returning next year."

The Conference was well-received by all and an all-around educational experience. "It was well-planned, the food was great, and I got to do a lot of networking with the people in robotics," Steve Bardonner of Visual Edge told us of the Conference. On a continued positive note, Daniel Ward, a keynote speaker from Ivy Tech Community College, said "It was a good place to start. We need to have these all over the country, but this was a good starting point due to all the local interest. It was an interesting mix of people. It is impressive that so many teachers were willing to take one of their days off to come here." Three teachers and a parent won Lego kits and a small completed robot from a raffle. Wanting to ensure that everyone got a little something to take home, Anne Hall also compiled goody-bags filled with such things as robotics magazines, pamphlets, and a copy of Solid Works software for all to further pursue their interest in bringing robotics to the classroom.

Educators and parents left well-fed and more learned in the area of robotics, many going back to their respective towns intending to start their own robotics teams in local schools. As for the host-team, TJ², they went home after a long day satisfied that they had done their part to spread the true meaning of robotics.

The United States is currently in dire need of more engineers to solve current and future problems. The field of engineering continues to develop at a faster rate due to the strong career path it provides along with the growing demands of the industrialized world. With more conferences such as Robotics Inside-Out, the word of engineering will continue to spread and will help to educate people on the subject of robotics in practical use. As for existing teams and their members, FIRST and its supporters remain the largest contributors' to the engineering pool with over 80,000 people currently involved, and this iconoclast continues to grow with new vigor each year. Engineers create the future, so it is important that we continue to get younger generations involved in this interesting and expansive field.

Article by Kasey MacTighe

Using Legos to Build Leadership and Team Skills

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:09:48 GMT

The Lego Robotics Club in Brielle, New Jersey, is designed to teach students in grades 5th thru 8th to solve a problem. The format is using legos, however, leadership, and team building are the key aspects of this program. The idea was developed by Dr. Laura Kenneally. Kenneally says, "this idea came about as a parent of two boys who love legos. Through experiences at Legoland in CA (a fantastic park!) and Space Camp (also a great program) we became interested in the range of activities one can do with legos. I could not find a robotics program in the area so I researched it and built our own program. I thought why not start one here in Brielle? Why not? It seemed like a great idea."

Kenneally says she does not have any experience in programming robots. However, she has been a special educator for over 20 years and is a board certified behavior analyst (education is in psychology, special education, and educational leadership). She is very familiar with Apple products and its software. The group is using Lego Mindstorms with Apple PowerBooks to program the robots. They will also be using some other software to create team logos, newsletters, and movies.

The group was part of First Lego League for two years and in between did Botball. This year the group is not part of any league and is limited so that each child can have their own robot and can learn all of the skills involved. Children were selected based upon a first come first serve basis. Children that attended the previous year were invited first and added two new students this year by having Kenneally's own children pass on having a robot. The program is not part of the local school, but meetings take place there to accommodate the size of the group.

The focus of the program this year was to build robots to help individuals who are blind. The group went to the Monmouth county association for the blind and interviewed the members. They recently held their Science Day 2008 at the school and invited other students who were interested in science to display their posters on any experiment or display. In addition, they had Driven Robotics, a high school team, as judges. They really made an impact on our students, as they understood their projects much more than their parents.

In the past a few organizations contributed a total of $300 towards the program's costs. When they were part of Botball, they received a grant from the National Science Foundation of two robots. However, the group found those robots, which used gameboys, to be very difficult to program. This year the group has been offered a grant from the Brielle Education Foundation to purchase 4 more robots.

For more information about the group, including videos of their work, visit http://web.mac.com/lkenneally/Brielle_Lego_Robotics_Club/Welcome.html

Buying a Child a Robot? The Top Ten Questions You Should Ask

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:07:56 GMT

David Greenbaum, Mayor of Robot Village, wrote the following article for the Robot Village newsletter. Robot Village® in New York City is a place where kids and robots meet, offering robotic products and services that cater to the new robot generation.

1. Why should I buy a child a robot?
Robots are a great way to introduce children to the world of hands-on technology and teach them about the basic concepts of robotics, which can include learning about motors, sensors, circuitry and programming. Additionally, building a robot can enhance development of hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Understanding these basic concepts can potentially lead your child on a road to an exciting career path.

Of course, robots can also be bought for art or collectible value, however, we will not discuss these types in the following answers.

2. What types of robots are available?
For simplicity, we will separate robots into two categories; those that are ready-to-use right out of the box and those that require building.

Ready-to-use robots:
These robots are powered by batteries, can be spring-wound or even solar powered. They may operate on their own, through a remote control or by sensors that respond to sound, touch or motion. Some ready-to-use robots also offer programmable features.

Robot building kits:
These robots are generally operated the same way as the ready-to-use robots except they come unassembled and must be built by the user through step-by-step building instructions and the use of any required tools.

3. What educational value do these robots provide?
Both can offer children a great educational experience, however, there are some differences.

Ready-to-use robots offer children instant gratification by performing some type of action such as lighting up, dancing, reacting with sensors, or firing disks. Although they offer a certain amount of play value, they lack the hands-on experience that a building kit can offer. However, ready-to-use robots that employ programming features challenge a child to create programs in order to make the robot function.

Building a robot gives a child a different set of challenges that include following directions, staying focused, and using hand tools. Many robot building kits are designed to be built one way only. However, some kits offer more flexibility in that they can be taken apart and rebuilt in as many ways as your child can imagine, leading to a more diverse experience. Additionally, some robot building kits include programming features, which can prepare your child for the exciting world of programming!

4. What robot is appropriate for my child?
Ready-to-use robots provide entertainment and enjoyment that can easily be shared with friends. Once a child has graduated from the play value, they can move to the next level with a ready-to-use robot that offers programming functions.

For the child who enjoys hands on activities, we recommend starting with a simple robot kit. After they master the basics, you can introduce them to the more advanced levels. Keep in mind that if a kit is too simple, they might get bored and if it’s too complicated, they might become frustrated. Remember, words of encouragement can go a long way!

Both ready-to-use robots and robot kits can be matched to different needs. Remember, you can think outside the BOT! For example, a parent who thinks their child does not posses great building skills should stick with programming. On the other hand, perhaps a building kit may actually help them get started into the world of building.

5. How long does it take to build a robot?
Depending on the robot kit, some robots can take as little as a half hour to build, while other more complex kits containing more parts can take as much as 4-5 hours. If the child does not complete the robot in one session, be sure to safely store all the remaining parts in a container so that they do not get lost. In the few cases where the use of glue is required, overall building time may take slightly longer to allow time for drying. There are also kits that can be rebuilt in many ways, which means the building process can last as long as the child’s creativity continues.

It is recommended that an adult set up the child for any robot building experience and if necessary, provide guidance along the way. Where hand tools are needed, adult supervision is recommended until the child becomes proficient in working with tools.

6. What's the best age to start building or programming robots?
Our experience has shown that with the help of an adult, children as young as five years old can start building robots. Of course, these will be the most basic of robot kits, but the finished product will surely make a fun companion or a great show-and-tell project! For programming, kids around eight years old can begin by using simple, graphical software programs. With this simple software, kids can easily drag-and-drop graphic images on a computer screen to create basic programs. As kids advance, they will begin to learn how to use more sophisticated programming languages.

7. Do I need a computer to do programming?
While some robot kits come pre-programmed with specific movement or motion sensors, etc., other kits offer the ability to create and download additional programs that will require a computer. Be sure to ask about compatibility when purchasing a robot that requires a computer because almost all robot kits work with PC – but not all work with a MAC.

8. Can I make my own robot from scratch?
Yes, of course, you can make your own robot from scratch, however, if you want to make a robot that is not just a piece of art, there are some basic questions that need to be answered first, such as: What do I want my robot to do? How big do I want my robot to be? Will it have sensors? If so, how will they be wired? Do I have the tools necessary to build my robot?

Unlike a car that has four wheels and moves forwards and backwards, a robot can be anything a child can imagine! There are no rules on how a robot should be built, which is what can make it so exciting. On the flipside, without a plan, you might end up wasting money on parts and pieces that do not work together. Therefore, we recommend you start by reading books such as, “Robot Building For Dummies” that cover the basics of robotics since there are many elements to consider.

9. Are special tools needed?
If you’re building a robot kit, it generally specifies what tools are needed on the box or in the directions. Tools required for robot building can include a screwdriver (either flat head or Phillips-head) and pliers. Sometimes an X-acto knife or diagonal wire cutters for cutting plastic parts and pieces out of the frame are needed, which is why we recommend parental supervision for certain kits.

Note that if you are building your own robot from scratch, you might need larger tools such as a drill for making holes or a saw for cutting pieces. In the case of buying a robot kit that is complete, all the pieces should be ready to use.

10. How much do these robots cost?

Although some can exceed as much as $1,000, most ready-to-use robots or robot kits generally range from $10 to $350.

Cockroaches, Robots and Group Behavior

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:06:42 GMT

The brain of an insect isn't very big, but bugs in a swarm are somehow able to make decisions of startling complexity. Bees, ants and cockroaches build labyrinthine hives with thousands of workers performing highly specialized tasks, all done without a foreman or vice president or even a blueprint in sight. How insects manage these feats has been shrouded in mystery.

Insight, however, is now coming from an odd source: robotic cockroaches. Scientists in Belgium spent months building robotic versions of the dreaded vermin and then let them loose in a community of real roaches. The robots not only blended in with their biological cousins, they acted as proxies for the scientists, influencing the roach community's collective decisions to search for the best resting location. The study is to be published in tomorrow's issue of the journal Science. "When you make a robot that behaves like a living organism and both influences behavior and is in turn influenced itself, you've made a big step forward," says Stephen Pratt, a biology professor at Arizona State University who is unaffiliated with the research.

The ultimate goal of the research is to figure out how the simple behavior of individuals gives rise to a complex collective decision. The principle, called emergence, is fundamental to life. What is the relationship between each bee's individual motion and the hive's overall success? How do millions of brain cells give rise to thought? "Anything that helps us better understand the principles of emergence is going to be important," says Pratt. The roach is a good launching point toward these big questions because its social system is simple enough for scientists to study mathematically.

The first step was to build robots that real roaches would accept as their own. Although the robotic bugs don't look much like the real thing, they act like them in two key ways: they naturally head toward dark areas and are influenced by the presence of other cockroaches. And more important, they smell like roaches. They emit the same molecules that roaches use to identify their kin, giving the robots a unique roach smell. "We could see the cockroaches accepting the robot when it had the right pheromones, touching and climbing on it," says José Halloy, a professor of life sciences at Université Libré de Bruxelles and lead author of the study. "They would never climb on the robots that did not carry the right pheromones."

The next step was getting the robotic and biological roaches to cooperate on common tasks. In experiments, the robots (programmed to act like natural cockroaches) would collectively head toward a dark shelter, mimicking the nocturnal behavior of natural cockroaches. That got the researchers wondering: if you program the robo-roaches to make an inappropriate decision and gravitate toward the lighted shelter, would the real cockroaches follow, going against their natural instincts?

They will, it turned out. Many of the biological roaches subdued their natural tendency to prefer dark places and followed the collective to a lighter shelter. But influence turned out to be a two-way street. On occasion, the real roaches were able to override the programming of their machine counterparts and get them to scurry into dark hiding places. Being social creatures, both the robotic and natural roaches were paying attention to and following after the example set by others. "If we change the group's social feedback, we changed the pattern," says Halloy.

For his next act, Halloy may build a robotic hen that chicks would accept as mom. Since hens are natural leaders, Halloy's robo-hens could come to rule the chicken coop, teaching his researchers something about more complex behaviors in the process. Theoretically it would be possible to create a robot that could influence collective decision-making in humans (think of a swarm of commuters heading for a subway exit). To do this, researchers would have to invent a robot that people would accept. Fortunately, android technology isn't there yet.

RoboGames 2007 – Impossible to Imagine, Impossible to Forget!

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:05:20 GMT

RoboGames is difficult to imagine without actually experiencing it, and almost as hard to explain, even if you've participated as we did this June at the Fort Mason complex in San Francisco.

It was the strangest, most exciting, most confusing, most dynamic four days we have ever experienced. Imagine the latest, most advanced robot and AI technology, side by side with brute force Combot monsters that are capable of launching competitors weighing upwards of two hundred pounds so high up in the air that they sometimes put a dent in the ceiling or crack the thick plastic protective walls. It’s like dropping Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton along with “Bill & Ted” right into the middle of "Mad Max – Beyond Thunderdome."

Click here for full details, courtesy of the Robot Magazine website: http://www.botmag.com/articles/08-02-07_robogames.shtml

The RoboEducators and Robotics with At-Risk Students in Los Angeles San Fernando Valley

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:04:28 GMT

This past summer the Project Grad Office in the San Fernando Valley offered a summer program to 200 at-risk students in the . The summer program was funded through a Department of Education Gear-Up grant. Gear-Up grants are intended to increase the number of minority students in colleges and universities. The purpose of the project is to follow a group of at-risk students (students at risk of dropping out of high school for socio-economic reasons) from 7th grade through 12th grade in hopes of getting them into colleges and universities. This summer was the second summer of the program. The students were rising 8th graders.

is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) the second largest school district in the country. The project focused on 3 middle schools in the , , , and . All these schools feed into . The ’s population is overwhelmingly Hispanic. The high school dropout rate in this area exceeds 50%. Roy Romer the former superintendent of the school district maintained that the primary cause of the high dropout rate is Algebra.

Algebra is a gatekeeper course. Students must pass Algebra to graduate from high school. All 8th grade students are expected to take Algebra. Most fail in 8th grade. They are allowed to repeat the course in high school but most students do not fair much better there. If they fail in high school they often drop out. One of the reasons that students do so poorly in algebra is that they do not understand its relevance. In a study in only 15% of students surveyed felt that Algebra was relevant to their lives. This is not surprising in light of the way that algebra is taught using x’s and y’s instead of real variables. Homework in algebra classes often consists of pages of abstract problems that use abstract algorithms to solve them. Only rarely are the problems related to real world problems. It is not surprising that students do not understand why Algebra is relevant to their future lives or careers.

Furthermore, educators understand that learning takes effort and is voluntary. Students do not learn because they are put in a certain room or a teacher uses a special teaching tool. Students have to engage in the class. The best activities are ones that are “hard fun” as Negroponte coined it (Being Digital, 1996). Hard fun is an activity that requires a great deal of thinking effort. Nevertheless, the student is willing to put forth the effort because the activity is so much fun. Video games are often used as examples of this type of hard fun. Youngsters can spend hour upon hour playing video games. They lose the games every time they play, until they finally beat the machine. Beating the machine can take weeks and months of hard concentration. Yet they will put forth the effort because the process is so much fun. Finding activities that are engaging brings about a creative focus known as “Flow.” If a student experiences flow they are completely focused and extremely productive. Creative people are particularly adept at finding ways to produce this state in themselves (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow, 2002). Flow produces creative solutions and wonderful outcomes. Flow leads to innovation. Innovation has been identified recently as the “one last sustainable edge” the has in the global economy.

Robotics is a school activity that has potential to create focused learning, hard fun, and flow. Currently there are over 100,000 students participating in robotics competitions around the country (Robot, 2007). Research on FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competitions from Brandeis University has shown that the teacher coaches believe that students really enjoy putting robots together, and learn a great deal of science, math, technology and engineering along the way. Seymour Pappert recognized this same interest in students using robots in the 1980s. His book Mindstorms (1993) is the result of his research. He further found that robots and computers often make abstract concepts concrete and more accessible to younger students.

Armed with this understanding of education and concerned about the high school dropout rate in the San Fernando Valley Project Grad and a partnership under ARCHES developed a pilot program to teach 200 at-risk middle school students pre-algebra. The pre-algebra course would hopefully better prepare the students to be successful in Algebra during the regular school year. The pre-algebra course was taught using the context of Robotics.

Findings:

The students attended the summer session voluntarily. Keep in mind that these are 12 and 13 year olds giving up the majority of their summer vacation. Nevertheless, very few students dropped out of the program. The year before a similar program was provided to the same students. Half of the students dropped out of the program that year.

We believe that this initial finding proves the value of robotics as a “Hard fun” activity that students will willingly work hard at and learn from at times despite their prior records. We feel that identifying them early in their school careers is important. We need to catch them before they give up on school, or give up on math and science.

We intend to follow these students this year and over the years to see if robotics is a factor in their future success in algebra and science and math in general. So far our experience has been encouraging.

Personal Home Robot Wins iRobot's Create Challenge

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:03:13 GMT

By K.C. Jones, InformationWeek

A personal robot that can water plants, remind owners to take their medication, turn lights on and off, and control appliances has won a contest sponsored by iRobot.

Danh Trinh, 35, of Towson, Md., won iRobot's Create Challenge contest and its $5,000 prize, with his Personal Home Robot, the company announced Tuesday.

iRobot Create is a preassembled programmable robot designed so developers can create new robots without having to build everything from scratch.

It features standard connections for electronics and threaded mounting holes so users can attach their own inventions to the robots and integrate third-party electronics.

Trinh attached sensors and video cameras that enable the robot to move around and perform household tasks. He also designed the robot so it can play music.

"This is an excellent example of the enthusiasm people bring to the idea of building robots," Helen Greiner, co-founder and chairman of iRobot, said in a prepared statement. "Contestants put in amazing efforts creating exciting and imaginative robots for the challenge. We saw everything from robots that serve food and drinks to robots that paint pictures and can be remotely controlled from distant locations."

The Create platform provides access to robot sensors and actuators via an open interface.

Electronic enthusiast Web site Tom's Hardware Guide sponsored the contest and hobbyist Web site Instructables.com hosted it. Judges chose the winning entry based on aesthetics, intelligence, utility, entertainment value, completeness, and originality.

IRobot sells bots that perform dull, dirty, or dangerous tasks for consumer and military use. The company's proprietary technology, iRobot AWARE Robot Intelligence Systems, includes technologies for navigation, mobility, manipulation, and artificial intelligence.

Waiakea High Micro Robot Team Wins First Place in Fully Autonomous Competition

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:00:47 GMT

Waiakea High School's Robotics Club, 17 students and 6 accompanying adults, returned from their 8 day learning journey in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan on Monday, November 12, bringing with them 3 awards (of the 10 that they eligible for) that they received during the 16th annual Micro Robot Maze Contest held on November 11 at the Nayori Conference Hall, Nagoya University, hosted by General chair, Dr. Toshio Fukuda, Nagoya University engineering department, and Secretariat, Hidenori Ishihara, Kagawa University. (http://imd.eng.kagawa-u.ac.jp/maze/index_e.html)

Waiakea High School, as the first American Secondary School to participate, competed against Asian college and other high school teams in the Micro Robot Racer contest, the Mountain Climbing Micro Robot Maze Competition, the Fully Autonomous Micro Robot Maze Competition, the Remote-Controlled Micro Robot Maze Competition. Their micro robots are either one cubic inch or one cubic centimeter in size, with components so small that they were required to use a microscope or magnifying lenses to do much of their work. Highly student centered, the team was mentored by Waiakea High School graduate, Riley Ceria, a University of Hawaii electrical engineering graduate, working for the CalTech Submillimeter Observatory in Hilo which provided him with work time off to participate in the regular after school meetings since this past spring.

Their months long hard work paid off by their winning:

1. First Place, Fully Autonomous Micro Robot Maze Competition (robot name: Teeny Humuhumu)

2. Third Place, Micro Robot Racer (robot name: Stich.05) 3. Special judges award 5th overall standing, Remote Controlled Micro Robot Maze Competition (robot name: Teeny Humuhumu)

We can be very proud of their representing the United States (and Hawaii) in this robot competition, not only for the quality of their performance but their promoting the Aloha spirit and our culture throughout their stay in Japan. The four judges were Dr. Mikio Horie, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Dr. Tyzh-jong Tarn, Washington University in St. Louis, Center for Robotics and Automation, Dr. Fumihito Arai, Tohoku University, Dept of Bioengineering and Robotics), and Art Kimura, Hawaii Space Grant Consortium, University of Hawaii. The skill sets (which include designing and fabricating their own circuit boards and working on a scale that have important implications for future developmental work in nano technology).

Their 8 day Japan experience included: the National Museum of Emerging Science and Technology, the Sony ExploraScience Museum, the Toyota Commemorative Museum, and a visit to Meinan Technical High School. Among the Japanese high schools competing was Ritsumeikan Senior High School, which has been designated as a Super Science High School by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; an invitation has been extended to Hawaii to have Hawaii students and teachers participate in their annual fall Super Science Fair, a symposium of 100 student speakers, team events and home stay in October 2008, and to promote further cooperation and discussion about STEM through future student and teacher exchanges.

With the checklist and procedures that were developed, we hope that other Hawaii schools will be able to have such a rich experience as well in the future.

The journey has forged a bridge of further understanding and cooperation of students and teachers in Hawaii and Japan.

Growing an Industry: A National Priority

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:58:26 GMT

Robot magazine Editor-in-Chief Tom Atwood had the privilege of presenting at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Educators Conference on the current status of the robotics industry in the U.S., and the challenges we face to grow these markets, which include technologies ranging from hobby to industrial robots.

Robotics initiatives in education are the solution for our country--this will help us preserve our leadership in technology. Robots motivate students and hobbyists, and they invoke the allure and wonder of science fiction.

Tom Atwood's Powerpoint presentation at the Carnegie Mellon University conference is available for download here (a 5.2MB PPS file).

Programming Solutions for the LEGO Mindstorms NXT

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:57:27 GMT

A rich selection of tools is available for programming LEGO Mindstorms NXT robots.

Which approach is best for you?

This extended article from Robot magazine compares and contrasts leading programming environments and related tools—a must read for hobbyists, students and teachers deciding how to program the NXT.

click here for details

Enhanced Gecko Mobile Robot Controller

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:56:12 GMT

GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. (Other OTC:GCKO.PK - News) announced that they have further enhanced their advanced mobile robot controller board, the GeckoSPIO(TM).

The newly enhanced GeckoSPIO(TM) 1.1 (sensor/power input/output) is designed to enable faster, more reliable and graceful self-navigation through loose crowds of moving people as in airport, bus, and train terminals, shopping centers and other public areas. "Our sensor loving, fully autonomous AI software, GeckoNav(TM), continues to perform in its exemplary manner to sense and avoid collisions, without human intervention. The GeckoSPIO enables higher patrolling speeds for better surveillance and a quicker payback for our commercial security partners and increased ROI for our investors," remarked R. Martin Spencer, President/CEO.

The GeckoSPIO 1.1 has 7 eight-bit MCUs with 8 PWM outputs; over 200 digital, 40 analog to digital, 17 serial and 2 10/100mhz Ethernet ports.

GeckoSystems is a developer of mobile service robots (MSR's) based in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. For more information visit http://www.geckosystems.com/

RoboFest 2009: A Competition Motivating Young Minds to Master the Machine

George Goula — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:55:10 GMT

Robofest is an annual autonomous robotics competition focusing on learning STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology and Math) for students in grades 5 - 12. Robofest is a competition of autonomous robots – programmed to act independently and not remote controlled – that encourages students to have fun while learning principles of computer science, technology, engineering, math, and physical science. Students design, construct and program the robots, and adult coaches are not allowed to assist during the events. In 2007-2008 season, over 1,500 students competed in Robofest, including teams from Canada, South Korea, England, and France. Teams compete in the junior division (grades 5-9) and senior division (grades 9-12). Student teams, composed of up to seven members each, can compete in several ways:

* Game Competition - A team of students competes to accomplish robotics missions using fully autonomous robots.

* Exhibition - Each team has complete freedom to show off any creative autonomous robotics project they have created.

* RoboSumo - Push the other robot out of the ring!

* RoboFashion Show - Two robots carry out a theme to music

* Pentathlon – VEX team robots participate in five field events

* Vision Based Mini Urban Robot Challenge – Senior contestants implement a control algorithm with machine vision to allow a laptop-based robot, L2Bot, to maneuver a course that simulates a city environment

Robofest’s Unique Features:

“Look Mom, No Hands!”: Students must fully program their robots to perform their missions without human assistance. No joysticks or remote controls are allowed.

“Your Mission, If You Decide to Accept It”: Is (partly) unknown or dynamic. Students must program their robots to accomplish tasks in a dynamic environment.

Students Rule: While adult mentorship is encouraged, students design, construct and program the robots, and adult coaches are not allowed to assist during the competition.

It’s Flexible: Students have the freedom of using various technologies and any robot controller (kits) such as Handy Boards, Basic Stamps, Boe-Bots, IntelliBrains, VEX, I-ROBOs, NXTs, or Lego® RCX bricks. They may use any actuators and sensors to solve the competition. Robots can be programmed by using any programming language.

Affordable: Team registration is $50 per team. Reusing parts and old kits is encouraged.

Teams: can be formed by any organization, school, home schools, clubs or civic group.

The Robofest website, www.robofest.net, provides necessary technical information for the contest. Free workshops have been provided at Lawrence Tech for teachers, coaches, parents, and all participants of Robofest teams since 2000.

Everyone is a Winner: All registered participants receive medals and certificates. Winners of the qualifying and championship rounds receive trophies. Top teams in the senior divisions receive $2,000 LTU renewable scholarships.

2009 Robofest Season Timeline

November - Call for Qualifying Competition Site Hosts

November 22 - 3rd annual Thanksgiving RoboParade

Thu. December 11 - Kick-off Informational meeting, 5:45pm, LTU, Fall Mini Urban Challenge, 7pm, Draft rules to be posted on the web at www.robofest.net; Registration begins

Fri. Dec. 12 - Kick-off meeting (same as 12/11), 6pm, LTU

Sat. Dec. 13 - Kick-off meeting (same as 12/11), 10am, LTU

January - Finalized official rules to be posted

Mid January ~February - Technical workshops; Site volunteer registration begins

Sat. February 28 - Warm-up competitions and Judge training

March – Mid April - Regional Qualifying Competitions

Sat. May 9, 2009 - World Robofest Championship at LTU

More information about how to become a site host, coach, or participate in Robofest can found on the website at http://www.robofest.net. Robofest news and updates are easily obtained by joining the eNewsletter, by clicking on the link found on the homepage.