Robots for Your Apartment: The Future IS Here!

"The Future is Here: Robot Sentries and Webcams...

We've always thought that when robots would truly arrive, life would get better. Being a fan of Asimov and robots, we've been waiting for a long time. The wait isn't really over, but more and more, artificial intelligence and robots are making their presence felt in our everyday lives. It's true that robots like the ones found in science-fiction will take a long time to be made into reality, but slowly and surely, they will come. We just hope that we don't have to bow down to our robot masters! In this post, we'll present two of the most recent useful robots that we've encountered. They are both linked to webcams, making them really interesting.

Rovio Robot Sentry


No, this isn't out of Aliens, but Rovio is the real deal. He's a remote controlled robot sentry. He will roam around your house and keep robbers out. Rovio was furst announced at the CES 2008 conference and recently went on sale for about $300. It packs a 640 x 480 webcam to stream video live in MPEG4 format. It can also snap stills, head out on customized patrol routes and avoid obstacles thanks to its infrared sensor. The robot itself comes with a charging dock and some room beacons, making it easier for Rovio to get around your place..."

Read the full article at its source: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/rovio-wifi-mobile-webcam-70490

Student Focus Question(s): If robot sentries like the ones described  in this article were  to become so popular that almost everyone had one at home, how do you think this would change our society? Our way of life? - What more than patrolling your house might you want these robots to do?

After thinking about this, you can enter your response using the "Commnets" function, below (to the left of the envelope icon). Feel free to identify your school and/or class....
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Click on book cover for information on Getting Started with LEGO Robotics.

Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!

Check out ROBOTICS for TEACHERS Podcast
www.roboticsforteachers.com

Classroom Robotics Blog: Powerful Prompts for Special Needs Students

Classroom Robotics Blog: Powerful Prompts for Teachers and Paraprofessionals to Use to Fully Engage Special Needs Students

By Barbara Carter Ellis

Students, teachers, parents, and other members of the learning community can celebrate learning about robotics when they open the door to this website. The blog is filled with exciting experiences and observations for 21st Century students, particularly, writing, speaking, and listening prompts which paraprofessionals and teachers can use when working with special needs students, in fact all students who are yearning for authentic, fun, robotic-centered reading, writing, viewing, speaking, listening, and creating.

As a dedicated teacher/educator of paraprofessionals and teachers for NYSUT (New York State United Teachers), I focus on creating as strong collaboration between the classroom teacher, the paraprofessional, and service providers listed on the student I.E.P. (Individual Education Plan).

The Blog's videos, which can be viewed by small groups of students, perhaps with paraprofessional-facilitated, targeted discussion and viewing, are captivating and effective for immediately engaging students in CCSS (Common Core Standards) focused reading, speaking, building knowledge in science, engineering, communications, political and social consequences of robotics technology. Beyond STEM skills, the content can also be shifted to science fiction genre study. An especially important aspect of the use of this blog as a resource and teaching tool for special needs students is that is provides complex visual and verbal content suitable for special needs learners. Further, it provides the wonderful experience for students of being published alongside their peers.

Instructional Suggestions

The following are some suggestions for teachers and paraprofessionals working with Special Education students –as well as for other support team members, such as speech therapists and family members, who can benefit from using this blog resource for family literacy.

Timeline

Complete a dated timeline of the students’ activities and the tools used.

Double Entry Journal

Keep a journal with Double Entry pages which can be used to record student experiences and reflections. Beyond their publishing of their ideas on the blog, this can validate and document their CCSS reading, writing, speaking, listening, and short research efforts in informational content.

The blog helps engage creative ideas of how the students can complete projects using a variety of graphic organizers and thinking tools. Use graphic organizers to have students create their robotic and tell why they feel the invention could make the world a better place. It can help engage student in projects that foster learning-centered dialogue.

Block Scheduling

Use this strategy to allow enough time to plan, create, practice, and review the purpose of the robot project the student is creating.

Brainstorming

Build lists of new ideas based on student inventories for future Robotics projects.

Parents

Develop an ongoing connection with parents, so that homework could include weekend fun and family projects. Again, families can create journals to record their experiences. The results can be added to create a classroom newspaper.

Word Wall

As the students expand their robot-related vocabulary, use word walls to record their definitions.

Picture Walk

Use your vocabulary from the word wall to create stories about your robotic adventures.

Follow the Leader

The art of questioning and response: An excellent connection to each of the blog posts is created by questions listed at the end of each visual experience. Use them! For instance, ask the students: “What do you think the real reason Mr. Kurato created the powerful tools is? Get the brain wheels turning so that students can answer questions for their journals. Connect with the speech clinician to modify or enrich this experience. (Common Core) Help the para professional develop questions to use when talking to the students.

Links

Donna Ogle: http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/106010.aspx

Graphic Organizers from Scholastic: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-resources  

Timeline and Double Entry Journal from Scholastic:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonplans/graphicorg/pdfs/timeline.pdf

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/sites/default/files/asset/file/jandoublejournal.pdf

Classroom Robotics Blog is the Perfect Resource to Support Student Success with Common Core Standards” Says Literacy Expert

“Classroom Robotics Blog is the Perfect Informational Text Resource to Support Student Success with Common Core Social Studies and Science Standards”

                               Dr. Rose Reissman
      
Prompting Classroom Collaboration, Comprehension, and Text-Based Tasks: One Blog Post at a Time


Brooklyn – April 24, 2013

It was a delight to find Classroom Robotics Blog, a fascinating and compelling resource for educating today’s students. This blog is rich in content, from the social issues associated with today’s science and technology to news about advances in robotics. It has much to offer kids and the adults who work with them.

As a literacy expert who is teaching Title 1 middle school students in New York City, and who does CCSS (Common Core State Standards) alignments for schools and cultural organizations, I was especially impressed by the captivating student prompts that the blog provides with the stories and videos it runs.

Now that 46 states have embraced the Common Core ELA, Social Studies, and Science literacy strand, which stresses a balance of literature and informational content in reading, as well as requiring students to do short research projects, this blog’s informational text summaries, which are gleaned from authentic science and technology online research sources, offer student readers highly accessible informational text content. These articles, along with the engaging robot themed videos, can engage a broad spectrum of students, including ESL and Special Needs, as well as and Gifted and Talented learners, in analyzing cutting edge technology advances and their impact. In view of the Common Core requirements, and beyond, this is a great way to bridge from informational science fact to science fiction and back again.

The rich combination of You Tube videos, plus summaries of complex informational texts and prompts that the blog provides can be answered by students as evidence grounded arguments with claims supported by texts. This nicely authenticates multi-content Common Core (Social Studies and Science) standards in Writing.

As a teacher of middle school English Language Arts, working with a range of ESL, Newcomer, Special Needs, Gifted, and On Grade Level students , I was, just today, able to use the this blog’s content to scaffold questioning and engage students in a speaking and listening, collaborative discussion about the efficacy of a hair washing robot. The range of student responses using the prompts provided by the blog about advantages and potential problems of this example of robotics technology, allowed for a sustained classroom conversation. The resulting initial student responses allowed me to suggest additional research from literary and informational resources to provide evidence for or against the students' initial opinions/points of view.

In terms of language standards, by the nature of the texts that are summed up on the blog, the students are not only introduced to a sizable compendium of academic vocabulary they can use in other writing and speaking contexts; but also to science, technology, and mathematics/engineering vocabulary that is nuanced and special domain specific. This growing use of STEM words supports student ownership of these words in their blog responses, plus enhances their STEM informational and academic vocabulary.
What a joyous, robot-driven, high interest resource this blog is!! I highly recommend colleagues make use of it. It is a complex and captivating STEM rich experience for all CCSS literacy strand teachers and everyone fascinated by robots. The student reactions to it will be unique and inspiring!

Bravo!!

Dr. Rose Reissman

Dr. Rose Reissman is the founder and director of the Writing Institute Program at Ditmas IS 62 Brooklyn. This program has been replicated in 118 schools throughout the US. She is an English Language Arts educator whose projects with students include books, podcasts, school-based museums, and scripts as well as student leadership efforts. She is the author of many books and articles.

KURATAS: One Bad-**S Robot, Or a Grown-up Kid's Dream?

"Iron Giant: Up close with Kuratas, the $1.4 million, 4-ton mech robot

When I was a kid, I thought there were going to be giant robots in the future. But no matter how long I waited, people were only able to make small robots, like Asimo. Eventually, I thought ‘I can’t wait anymore,’ and set out to make one myself." Kogoro Kurata is the designer and blacksmith behind the gargantuan 4-ton mech standing in front of me. Named after its creator, Kuratas is the product of nearly three years of forging, hammering, and coding. The robot’s expressionless face atop its 13-foot frame towered over the crowd. I pictured its diesel-powered hydraulic arms ripping apart the building’s steel girders.

Steel is Kurata’s specialty, both for his day job as a blacksmith, and for his "hobby." Inspired by the plastic models from a 1980s anime series called Votoms, he initially got noticed for building a life-sized steel model of one of the program’s Armored Troopers. His next project was a natural extension. "I made Kuratas wondering ‘what would it be like if this thing actually moved?’"

"It's funny to see the panicked emails come in from people abroad, saying they thought it was a joke."To that end he recruited Wataru Yoshizaki, now a second-year doctoral student, whose V-Sido software powers the robot’s 30 hydraulic actuators. He's also responsible for its multiple onboard weapons systems (like the smile-activated BB gatling gun), requisite iPhone connectivity, and a robotic hand that’s controlled with what looks like a Nintendo Power Glove. The two came to know one another online, and when Kurata learned how much of the student’s work could be applied to his own project, he extended an invitation: "How would you like to control my robot?" Less than two years later, the pair were showing off their first working prototype.

Suidobashi Heavy Industry is the name that Kurata operates under, believing that establishing a company would be the first step toward mass production. The group first gained attention back in July when it opened a website letting people order their own custom mechs, starting from the low price of $1.35 million. The team has received over 3,000 orders both in Japan and overseas, but so far all the customers have backed out before paying. "It's funny to see the panicked emails come in from people abroad, saying they thought it was a joke," says Kurata..."

Read the full article at its source: http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/3/3722592/kuratas-robot-iron-giant-four-ton-mech
Student Focus Question(s): What do you think is the real reason Mr. Kurata created this powerful robot? If you could create any type of robot, what would it do? look like?
After thinking about this, you can enter your response using the "Commnets" function, below (to the left of the envelope icon). Feel free to identify your school and/or class....
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Click on book cover for information on Getting Started with LEGO Robotics.

Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!

Check out ROBOTICS for TEACHERS Podcast
www.roboticsforteachers.com

Robot Ants Explain Cooperative Behavior!

"Robotic Ants Successfully Mimic Real Colony Behavior

Scientists have successfully replicated the behaviour of a colony of ants on the move with the use of miniature robots, as reported in the journal PLOS Computational Biology. The researchers, based at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark, USA) and at the Research Centre on Animal Cognition (Toulouse, France), aimed to discover how individual ants, when part of a moving colony, orient themselves in the labyrinthine pathways that stretch from their nest to various food sources.

The study focused mainly on how Argentine ants behave and coordinate themselves in both symmetrical and asymmetrical pathways. In nature, ants do this by leaving chemical pheromone trails. This was reproduced by a swarm of sugar cube size robots, called "Alices," leaving light trails that they can detect with two light sensors mimicking the role of the ants' antennae..."

Read the full article at its source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130329090614.htm

Student Focus Question(s): What does this robotics-based experiment tell us about the way we regard the abilities, competencies, and successes of ants? Assuming that we can build and program tiny robots to behave the way ants do, how might we use that knowledge?
After thinking about this, you can enter your response using the "Commnets" function, below (to the left of the envelope and pencil icons). Feel free to identify your school and/or class....
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Click on book cover for information on Getting Started with LEGO Robotics.

Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!

Check out ROBOTICS for TEACHERS Podcast
www.roboticsforteachers.com

ROBOTICS and the STEM LEARNING GAP?

Great opinion piece...

"Robotics can help fill the STEM gap


The first robot was created in 400-350 BC, a steam-powered pigeon engineered by the mathematician Archytas. Since then, robots have captured our imagination. They embody innovation, success and progress, and they inspire our vision of the future.


National Robotics Week, now in its fourth year, helps us realize that we are already knee deep in the robotics era. Robots are cleaning floors, making cars, keeping our military safe, assisting in patient care, exploring the depths of the oceans and patrolling the skies. However, for the United States to remain a dominant force in this quickly growing industry, we will need significantly more skilled professionals in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in the future.


Companies, universities, museums, and associations across the United States are embracing National Robotics Week this week as an opportunity to capture the imaginations of children and share the exciting world of robots with all. Robots serve as a way to engage and show off the fun side of STEM in the hopes of inspiring youth to pursue technology-related fields and combat the STEM crisis in the United States

Established by the House of Representatives in 2010, National Robotics Week celebrates the strength of robotics in the United States as a symbol of American innovation. Here in Massachusetts, we are home to almost 100 robotics companies and 10 robotics research institutions.

Throughout history, the United States has earned international respect as a leader in business and industry. Much of this falls on the back of our nation’s educational system and innovation in STEM. Yet our ability to produce the next generation of STEM graduates has become inadequate and is trending in the wrong direction. The World Economic Forum’s 2012-2013 Global Competitiveness Report ranks the United States as 47 out of 144 countries in terms of quality of math and science education, and 7th overall in terms of global competitiveness.

If you think of our educational system as a pipeline, a very troubling picture is emerging. By the end of middle school, we have lost 79 percent of our potential STEM workforce. According to the STEMconnector’s 2012 annual report, “Where are the STEM Students?”, we lose more than half of those remaining in high school. Although STEM covers a tremendous number of industries and opportunities, only about 1 in 10 students graduating high school has an interest in STEM careers.


At the college level, this grim scenario gets worse. For every 100 students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree, only 10 will end up working in a STEM-related job. It seems we are convincing our children and young adults that science and math are hard and scary.

According to Change the Equation, a shocking 30 percent of the population would rather clean a bathroom than solve a math problem.


So what do we do? We start with National Robotics Week. At iRobot, we organize, publicize, laud and shout about the more than 180 National Robotics Week events. There is at least one event in every single state in America. We applaud our friends in Alaska hosting student workshops. We laugh with the robot comedian in Montana. We invite you to join us at the Robot Zoo in Cambridge on April 13, where more than 40 local robot companies, teams, and researchers will gather to show off the latest and greatest in robotic innovations..."

Read the full article at its source: http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/04/12/podium-robotics/r7HKQ9sGf1Me0KYskKHW3O/story.html


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Click on book cover for information on Getting Started with LEGO Robotics.

Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!

Check out ROBOTICS for TEACHERS Podcast
www.roboticsforteachers.com

Next! But first let the robot wash your hair...

Panasonic's hair washing  robot... no need to tip it!

"Panasonic Tests a Hair Washing Robot

Panasonic recently demonstrated the first ever robotic hair washing machine which is now being tested at a hair salon in Japan and might replace human hair washers in the future. Should hair stylists have anything to worry about?

Back in 2010 Panasonic displayed a prototype of a new type of robot that can perform a feet only humans have done so far - wash and shampoo hair. Two years later and the robot seems ready for prime time in the first robotic hair salon in the world.



The new robot utilizes a special mechanism that learns a variety of head shapes and was developed to resemble a human person giving a head massage. Initially the robot uses a large amount of hot water to loosen up the hair and apply a small amount of hair gel and shampoo to the user. The next step for the robot is to wash the hair using water coming from a number of small nozzles and then moving on to massage the scalp by applying 24 robber "fingers".


The fingers can be finely moved using separate independent mechanisms for a comfortable fit to any head size (the robot uses a special arm that can extend to support different head sizes). There are 8 fingers on each side plus 8 fingers at the base of the scalp. The robot also sprays a special hair conditioner in the form of a mist that spreads uniformly across the hair. In the final stage the robot gives the user a full and relaxing head massage while blow-drying the hair.


According to Panasonic the applications of the robotic hair washer go far beyond normal hair salons. Hospitals as well as nursing homes and care facilities are prime candidates for the hair washing robot which can help reduce burden on the stuff and cut costs while providing an important service for the patients..."

Read the full article at its source: http://thefutureofthings.com/news/11453/panasonic-tests-a-hair-washing-robot.html


Student Focus Question(s): Yes, it's a cool idea, but does the world need a hair washing robot? Would you let a robot wash your hair? Who could take advantage of this technology? Do you see any problems with this?

After thinking about this, you can enter your response using the "Commnets" function, below (to the left of the envelope and pencil icons). Feel free to identify your school and/or class....

Finally, a robot that can flex when it has to!

"Most humanoid robots developed over the past few decades have had stiff joints, and that's a problem if they're ever going to interact with people. Their unyielding arms and legs could injure a person if they accidentally whack someone, or if they lose balance and fall down. Lately there's been a growing interest in developing robotic joints with variable stiffness, which would improve their safety, but so far few groups have built a complete robot. Now a team from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) is approaching that goal with their robot COMAN (COmpliant huMANoid).

Modeled on a four-year-old child, COMAN is 94.5 cm tall (from foot to neck) and weighs 31.2 kg. It features 25 degrees of freedom (DOF), and a combination of stiff and compliant joints (see diagram below). The compliant joints (14 DOF) rely on series elastic actuators. These actuators—a custom design created by the IIT team—are applied to the the flexion/extension of the arms and legs, and are both small and modular, which makes them ideal for multi-DOF robots like humanoids. The researchers have also built custom torque sensors for each of the elastic joints, including a 6-axis force/torque sensor for the ankle joints. Development of the robot is funded, in part, by the European AMARSI project..."

Read the full article at its source: http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/iit-coman-humanoid-robot

Student Focus Question:s What does this development in the desing of robots tell us about the design of human bodies? Can you think of other ways that robots need further development before they can interact with humans  effectively? Submit your thoughts using the "Comments" feature of this blog, below (to the left of the envelope and pencil icons).  Ffeel free to include the name of your school, class, club, etc.) .....................................................................................................
Click on book cover for information on Getting Started with LEGO Robotics.

Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!

Check out ROBOTICS for TEACHERS Podcast
www.roboticsforteachers.com

Better watch yourself around this KIA robot!

Student Focus Questions: What does this commercial tell us about our society's attitudes about robots?
Would a real robot interpret the tire kicking customer's actions this way? If you were programming this robot, how might you change its behavior?

Submit your thoughts using the "Comments" feature of this blog, below (to the left of the envelope and pencil icons). Ffeel free to include the name of your school, class, club, etc.)
.....................................................................................................
Click on book cover for information on Getting Started with LEGO Robotics.

Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!

Check out ROBOTICS for TEACHERS Podcast
www.roboticsforteachers.com

Robonaut 2, The Robot Astronaut

"Robonaut 2 Team Receives AIAA Robotics Award


The NASA team behind Robonaut 2, the first humanoid robot in space, has been awarded the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Automation and Robotics Award for 2013. AIAA is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession

Robonaut 2, or R2, is a dexterous humanoid robot built and designed at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Sent to the International Space Station in 2011 with the intention of aiding astronauts on dangerous tasks and freeing them from some the more mundane work, upgrades to the R2 system continue to produce novel advances in the field of robotics

“The R2 development team is an incredible group of talented people and I am so proud that the team has been recognized with this prestigious honor,” said Dr. Myron Diftler, Robonaut Principal Investigator at NASA Johnson. “To be acknowledged this early in our planned activity on ISS is especially notable. This award from our peers gives us increased confidence that R2 is on a track to even more success as we move towards mobility inside, and then outside the International Space Station...”


Read the full article at its source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/robonaut.html

Student Focus Question: What do you think will prove to be the greatest advantage to NASA and the space program of having robot astronauts? Submit your thoughts using the "Comments" feature of this blog, below  (to the left of the envelope and pencil icons). Feel free to include the name of your school, class, club, etc.)

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Click on book cover for information on Getting Started with LEGO Robotics.

Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!

Check out ROBOTICS for TEACHERS Podcast
www.roboticsforteachers.com

Check out the Grizzly, a Robotic Utility Vehicle!

ATVs are awesome. Robots are awesome. It only makes sense that combining the two will create something that's double the awesome. And that's exactly what the Grizzly Robot Utility Vehicle does.

Made by Clearpath Robotics, it's an autonomous ATV designed to execute highly-demanding defense, mining and agricultural tasks. Billed as part-tractor and part-robot, anything you'll probably use an ATV for but are too chicken to risk your neck actually doing, like running down an army zombies or ferrying supplies over hazardous terrain, can be executed by this robot vehicle all by its lonesome.

Read the full article at its source: http://www.coolthings.com/grizzly-robot-utility-vehicle/

Student Focus Question: What type of person or business do you think would buy this machine? Why?
Submit your thoughts using the "Comments" feature of this blog, below (feel free to include the name of your school, class, club, etc.)

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Click on book cover for information on Getting Started with LEGO Robotics.



Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!



Check out ROBOTICS for TEACHERS Podcast
www.roboticsforteachers.com