Monday, July 30, 2007

Really, you look good, Dave! And you look good, too, HAL!


Dave Bowman: Hello, HAL do you read me, HAL?HAL: Affirmative, Dave, I read you.Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.HAL: I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.Dave Bowman: What's the problem?HAL: I’m busy reading CLASSROOM ROBOTICS: Case Stories of 21st Century Education for Millennial Students
http://www.infoagepub.com/index.php?id=9&p=978-1-59311-602-6
From the New York Times Magazine"The Real Transformers"
Social Robots
"I was introduced to my first sociable robot on a sunny afternoon in June. The robot, developed by graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was named Mertz..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/magazine/29robots-t.html

Drink Your Milk, Will Robinson! - Robots tend the dairy herd

From: Providence Journal
"Robotics tend the dairy herd"
It's true, this New England system "milks the cows, tracks yield data — even keeps the cows calm"
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Take 2 Aspirin and Call My Robot in the Morning


Check Out: Classroom Robotics -
Case Stories of 21st Century Instruction for Millenial Students
http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Article from South City Journal
"Robotics Come to the Operating Room
Patients experience less pain, heal faster with surgeon-directed robot..."
http://southcityjournal.stltoday.com/life_and_style/sj2tn20070724-0725sou_robot.ii1.txt

International (student) Aerial Robotics Competition at Fort Benning

From the Ledger-Enquirer.com...
"Look, up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's an unmanned aerial robotic. College students from around the world are at Fort Benning's McKenna Urban Operations Site..."
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/breaking_news/story/92391.html
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php

Kuwaitis Defeat Americans (at BotBall, that is)

From Pop City...
"Robotics Botball champs from Kuwait win Pittsburgh trip
Three boys from Kuwait took Pittsburgh by storm this week and, no, it’s not a new band."
http://www.popcitymedia.com/timnews/botball0725.aspx
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

NASA is testing "K 10" Robots in the Arctic

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Check Out
"Classroom Robotics:
Case Stories of 21st Century
Instruction for MillenialStudents"

http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php

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NASA Uses Arctic for Robotics Test...
Interesting article by Josh Cox about current NASA efforts to simulate space conditions in the Earth's artic. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/322640/nasa_uses_arctic_for_robotics_test.html

Also - NASA News Release about this experiemental program...
"NASA Robots Practice Moon Survey in the Arctic Circle -

"We are learning about the awesome potential of human and robot teams," said S. Pete Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., where the group conducting the survey is based. "Studying how humans and robots can maximize scientific returns in sites such as Devon Island will prepare us to walk on the moon and Mars."
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/jul/HQ_07163_Ames_Lunar_Sim_Robot_Survey.html

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Robot Content in MP3 format, etc.

From the Living on Earth radio program:
"The Future of Robotics"...
"From vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers to military landmine detectors, robots are becoming increasingly present in our daily lives. Living on Earth’s Bruce Gellerman visits MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) to meet a humanoid robot named Domo, its creator, PhD student Aaron Elsinger, and the man behind all the magic, CSAIL director Rodney Brooks."
Provided as a print transcript, stream (Real Player), or downloadable MP3

Bill Gates' 2 Cents: A Robot in Every Home (article)

From Scientific American:
"A Robot in Every Home -
The leader of the PC revolution predicts that the next hot field will be robotics"
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=9312A198-E7F2-99DF-31DA639D6C4BA567&pageNumber=1&catID=2&colId=1

Saturday, July 21, 2007

2 Robotics Items from Wired Magazine


Please Check Out
Classroom Robotics...

Here are 2 good ones from Wired:
1) Robot Arm Gives Stroke Patients a Hand
2) Arctic Exploring Robots Ready to Take a Dive
Both items @: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/robotics/index.html

Thursday, July 19, 2007

TryEngineering.org: Outstanding Educational Resource to support Teaching and Learning About Engineering

Teachers involved in any portion of the STEM continuum will want to know about this wonderful resource.
”Try engineering.org is a resource for students (ages 8-18), their parents, their teachers and their school counselors. This is a portal about engineering and engineering careers, and we hope it will help young people understand better what engineering means, and how an engineering career can be made part of their future…”
Here are a few of the many valuable items found on the site:
· Descriptions of the lifestyles and experiences of engineers,
· Hands-on experiments and activities,
· Referrals to summer programs and internship opportunities, and search tools for schools that offer engineering programs.
· A portal to send questions to engineering students in universities and to practicing engineers.
· Teaching resources,


”This portal is brought to you by engineers and educators, and is a collaboration of engineering associations, industry, and teacher/counselor organizations…

…We all believe that engineering is an exciting and rewarding profession, and invite you to share in our enthusiasm about this rich and influential discipline.”

Among the many teaching resources is the following lesson plan.

Build Your Own Robot Arm
Lesson Focus: Develop a robot arm using common materials. Students will explore design, construction, teamwork, and materials selection and use.
Ages 8-18.”

http://www.tryengineering.org/home.php
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php

Robotics Organization (FIRST) Impacts School Curriculum, etc.

FIRST Founder, Dean Kamen, reading Classroom Robotics


Here's a couple of high interest items from the highly informative New York City/ New Jersy FIRST Newsletter:

1) FIRST Impact on School Curriculum
”As an organization, FIRST doesn't get directly involved in trying to change what is taught in schools. But…” http://nycnjfirst.njit.edu/newsletter_mtolive.html

2) “More than Robots: An Evaluation of the FIRST Robotics Competition-Participant and Institutional Impacts”
Go to http://nycnjfirst.njit.edu/newsletter_july.html and scroll down to the 6th item.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Great Video Coverage of Student Robotics Demo


Follow the link below to great News Coverage of the July 11th FIRST Student Robotics Demonstration event held at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in Manhattan.

Family First: Meet The True Transformers
NYC Robotics Teams Out To Make World Better Place

Cindy HsuReporting

http://wcbstv.com/seenon/local_story_192214149.html
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)

Reliable Robots: Video Content for Students

I just received the following announcement from The Futures Channel. As always, their videos are very high quality instructional content for students. This one on Robots used for applications like space exploration is wonderful.

"Problem Solving - Reliable Robots
With millions of miles between them and their robots, NASA's robotics engineers have to make sure they have thought of everything before they send the robots on their way. Show your students how probability plays a crucial role in designing the robotic systems that we rely on to carry out missions in space too dangerous or impossible for humans.

"As a mathematics educator and author, during the past decade I have primarily been involved with issues related to girls and STEM. It has been this interest that has led to my excitement on viewing so many films produced by The Futures Channel.

"By focusing on the role of math in the real world, Futures Channel films address the question so frequently asked by math students … "what is this good for?" "Where does mathematics fit in the real world?" The accompanying lesson guides help educators and students make these connections.

"I highly recommend Reliable Robots, as well as the entire library of Futures Channel films, not only to educators, but to parents, and of course students, as well."

Teri Perl, Ph.D, Past President Expanding Your Horizons Network
Watch the movie: http://www.thefutureschannel.com/dockets/hands-on_math/reliable_robots/index.php

National Sales Office: 1400 E. Touhy Ave., Suite 225, Des Plaines, IL 60018 (877) 937-7515
© 2007 The Futures Channel, Inc.
"
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Robotics is Recognized as Perfect to Teach STEM

Finally, some acknowledgement that Robotics is one of the few, and perhaps the best, available approaches to teaching the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) continuum in our schools!
Robots tackle core of STEM education: Technology, engineering are poorly addressed in schools, experts say; some educators are using robotics to help change that...
By Corey Murray, Senior Editor, eSchool News
Despite a renewed emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to keep America globally competitive, many experts contend that students remain woefully ill-prepared in technology and engineering--the core of the STEM disciplines. Hoping to change that, many educators are turning to robotics, holding design competitions, and challenging classmates to outdo one another in a battle for technical supremacy.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=7014
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Product Release: VEXplorer

From: MCADCafe

Also packed with the unit is SolidWorks Student Design Kit software to create various configurations on a computer before building the unit. ...

http://www10.mcadcafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?section=CorpNews&articleid=404158
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php

Friday, July 13, 2007

Robots in Ancient Greece - Putting Robotics in Historical Context

This fascinating story will illustrate for students and teachers alike just how universal and basic the fascination with creating robots is. Has man always souught to replicate himself through technology? Apparently so. The ability to do so is not exclusive to our contemporaries, though…

From: NewScientistTech
Article: “The programmable robot of ancient Greece”

http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/mg19526111.600
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Announcing "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" Book

Case Stories of 21st Century Instruction
for Millennial Students

Edited by: Kathleen P. King, Fordham University- Mark Gura, Fordham University

A volume in the series: Instructional Innovations in Teaching and Learning. The purpose of this book is to reach out to teachers, parents, coaches, and students who may be hoping to, or just investigating the possibility of, how to get started with robotics. At the same time, we hope to leverage the efforts of those who have been hard at work and "play" in this massive movement for many years, applaud their efforts, and provide them with documentation, support, and additional resources to reach further into the possibilities they can help create for all of us in bringing the power and potential of learning through robotics to more students, to the classroom and beyond. Not only does this book provide resources and firsthand insight into this exciting field, but it also provides one-of-a-kind perspectives of curricular applications of robotics for student learning.

Information Age Publishers - Charlotte, NC 28271 - 704.752.9125

Contents and Ordering Information:
http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php