Ameca, [THE MOST REALISTIC ‘HUMAN’ ANDROID ROBOT]

 

Cool Begginer Robot from SPHERO

 

Dancing with Robots

 

Teaching Young Students Culture, History, and More with Robotics!

See full article at its source: https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2021/12/integrating-culture-and-history-robots

"My school, the New England Jewish Academy, is a dual-curriculum school. I teach general studies to students in 1st and 2nd grade for half of the school day, and my students spend the other half of their days with a Hebrew teacher and a Judaics teacher. That means I get about half the time to teach the same content that teachers who work with students all day get.

One of the ways I make the most of my instructional time is by integrating different content areas into the same lessons, sometimes in surprising ways. This year, for example, I have been working with my students’ Judaics teacher, Shifra Silver, to combine STEM learning with lessons about Jewish holidays.

A robot ritual

This year our principal, Rabbi Zev Silver, introduced me to a screen-free educational robot called KIBO. As we looked through resources and lessons for using it, we came across the Limudei Code-Esh (LCE) project from a partnership with Tufts University and the David Lear Sulman Fund. LCE is a STEAM program that integrates coding and computational thinking through six Jewish holidays: Sukkot, Chanukkah, Tu B'shevat, Purim, Pesach, and Yom Ha’atzmaut. It was created as a collaboration between Tufts Professor Marina Bers, the co-creator of KIBO, and Jewish educators from orthodox, conservative, and reform day schools and supplemental schools,

We began with the unit for Sukkot, which includes a ritual where participants gather a palm frond, a myrtle leaf, and a willow branch. They bind them together to form a bundle called a lulav, and then shake them together with a citron in each of the cardinal directions, as well as up toward the sky and down toward the ground, all the while walking around a table reciting a prayer. The ritual is a reminder of the time that the Jewish people spent wandering in the desert, and a celebration of how they found what they needed to survive and thanked God for it.

Since we were more interested in ensuring the students understood the ritual than gathering materials, my students’ Judaics teacher Shifra Silver put together lulavs for the students with green toothpicks, little frilly pieces that looked a bit like leaves, and yellow push pins for the citron that would hold the whole thing together. We started by having students program their robots to perform the shaking part of the ritual, but expanded the focus on having them teach their robots to “walk” around a small table called a bimah that we set up on the floor. 

We provided craft materials to the students, as well as art platforms for them to attach to the KIBO kit to carry the lulav on..

 

...Helen Schwartz teaches 1st and 2nd grade at the New England Jewish Academy, where she recently used KIBO to help her students celebrate Hannukah. She can be reached at hschwartz@neja.org."

Student Robotics to " Protect Our Animals" ....Received in my In Box, the 2021 MWRC Global Online Finals

 

https://mailchi.mp/matatalab.com/tale-bot-pro-183252?e=c5ae7ae1f1

Join and Protect Our Animals

After three months of trials and competitions, the 2021 MWRC Global Online Finals was successfully concluded. More than 200 teams from around the world engaged in the competition, including Mainland China, Singapore, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, the United States, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong (China), UAE and Australia, etc.

In this competition, which was themed [Join and Protect Our Animals], children from all over the world created various animal protection plans by combining wonderful ideas with the topic Environmental Protection and using their own coding works. That was amazing

Competition Review

The young contestants were ingenious and their division of work was clear. They used paper, brushes, Lego blocks and other readily available materials to create a conservancy in their own minds.

 

Little Matatalab guardians can be seen everywhere, whether in the jungle, in the desert or on the glacier. 

 

Some were cleaning up garbage over and over on the wavy seashore. 

 

Some were secretly patrolling in the jungle. 

 

Some were walking between volcanoes and glaciers.

 

Some were cleaning up plastic garbage in the conservancy.

 

Members of each team participating in the competition worked hard and cooperated quite skillfully. It can be seen at a glance that they have practiced a lot. No wonder the works presented were so amazing.

 

We are so proud to see the smiling faces of the children from worldwide! 

 

Winners 

There were so many participating teams, and wonderful works were emerging one after another. Which teams would then finally stand out and win the honors of the year?

Create a Robot Library

 

How to Create a Robot Library

"As soon as you bring a robot into a classroom, kids are already curious and wondering and excited," says Shawn Abele, instructional technology coordinator for Gilbert Public Schools in Arizona. However, Abele and Jon Castelhano, the district's executive director of technology, also know that sometimes robotics in the classroom is used merely as a fun way to pass the time and keep kids entertained rather than an educational tool. So when their district purchased a number of robotics kits in 2020 to loan out to various schools and classrooms in the district, they were determined to avoid using the devices as a gimmick.

Full Story: Tech & Learning (11/24) 

School Uses Robot to Paint Lines on Sports Field

 

 From the Journal & Courier https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2021/08/21/gps-guided-robot-helps-turn-lafayettes-loeb-stadium-into-soccer-pitch/8208720002/ 

 LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Loeb Stadium is much more than just a baseball field with it being used as a commencement ceremony site, a venue for possible future concerts and now, a soccer field…

…The soccer field lines were painted on by field management company GPS Lining. According to GPS' website, "the world’s first and most comprehensive autonomous GPS paint robot" is used for painting the soccer field. "Intelligent One," as the robot is called, uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to paint concisely straight lines. "It's a really neat process, they used a robot," Miner said. "They gave it like two GPS points and that robot would get to where the line stopped and it shut off the chalk paint and would turn around and come back."

Grace, the ultra-lifelike nurse robot

(from) https://youtu.be/SJEtkPAcMqc

Robotics Activities for Young Learners

 From T.H.E. Journal... https://thejournal.com/articles/2021/08/12/4-keys-to-robotics-activities-for-young-learners.aspx

STEM Education

"4 Keys to Robotics Activities for Young Learners

Physical computing with robots for young learners offers an engaging, collaborative, creative and standards-based approach to any makerspace program.

• By Bryan Flaig 08/12/21

As more students return to classrooms in the fall, they will be looking for the kinds of hands-on activities they couldn’t experience during distance learning. Educators will also be looking for ways to get students problem-solving, collaborating, and sharing ideas in ways that couldn’t happen over Zoom. Making physical computing with robots part of a makerspaces program addresses these issues and re-engages students in learning.

In my work with schools to design makerspaces and STEM programs, I’ve found a few key features that help when introducing robots to young learners. First, the activities should quickly engage students and bring them into the learning process. Second, teachers should consider time and space requirements for robotics activities to get the most out of formal and informal learning opportunities. And lastly, activities should be aligned to grade-level standards as much as possible.

Starting with the Robot

The robots I’ve found most engaging for introducing pre-K–1 students to physical computing are KIBOs from Kinderlab Robotics. Students are drawn to the tactile features — it has a wooden top and thick plastic sides that make it approachable and easy for young students to grip as they develop fine motor skills. It’s also screen-free: Students program their robot with blocks that are also made of wood, similar to building blocks.

Finally, KIBO doesn’t have what I call a pre-made “personality.” Some robots designed for young learners are already an animal or have features that limit creative imagination. It doesn’t have features that make it easy to fit into a gender, which avoids the biases that can push girls out of STEM. Students quickly discover that their robot can be anything they want it to be.

Storytelling Hits All the Key Features

Once students have been introduced to the parts and basic programming features, like getting their robot to move, teachers can increase engagement through storytelling. An introductory activity that I like incorporates the book Move!, by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page.

In the makerspace, teachers read the story, which involves descriptions of different animals and how they move. Students are asked to draw a picture of an animal, either from the story or one they know about, and tape it to the top of their robot. Then, students design a program with motion blocks to have the robot move like their animal. Having students work in pairs can promote productive talk, and teachers will hear students reflecting on parts of the story as they work to sketch and design the movement for their animal. An assessment might involve interviewing students to find out why they made a certain animal, how their computer program works, or how the story influenced their project.

I like this activity for other reasons, too. Depending on school bell schedules, reading and drawing can be done one day and programming the next. Drawings can be easily stored, which helps with managing the activity. Students can work in defined areas of the makerspace that don’t require a lot of room. The activity relies on simple materials: paper, crayons, and tape. There’s potential to align it with content standards, such as reading, talking, and writing. And there’s a high ceiling for creative thinking. I once observed two kindergarten girls imagine KIBO as a polar bear. They built an ice wall with the wooden programming blocks and screamed with delight when they got their program working and the bear smashed through the ice wall!

Self-Directed Learning Through Bowling..." next »

Student Robotics Training Builds Manufacturing Skills

 FROM Tech & Learning

How to Use Robotics Training to Build Manufacturing Skills

(Intelitek)

Industry 4.0 is embracing robotics. However, manufacturers cannot find enough trained robotics technicians to hire to work in their plants. There are just not enough available graduates, which is why federal funding for career technical education (CTE) is part of the three COVID-relief stimulus bills. School leaders at Northeast Mississippi Community College are very aware of the manufacturer needs in their local area. "When we developed our program, we spoke with manufacturers in five surrounding counties to find out what they needed," says Kyle Carpenter, workforce trainer/workforce E-learning administrator.

Full Story: Tech & Learning

Sphero's Global Challenge! Offers Student Robotics Learning Opportunities

From my in box...I've long been a fan of sensible learning challenge-type events as learning contexts associated with Student Robotics.

Sphero             littleBits              Blog              Activities               Educators It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Season Two of the Sphero Global Challenge! That’s right; after a successful 2020/21 season of our robotics and STEAM competition, we couldn’t wait to announce Season Two and its theme: Heroes Among Us. This year’s competition will consist of five unique events designed to challenge students of all ages to go deeper with computational thinking, engineering, and programming skills—all while having fun!   Register Now

 

Make Virtual Robotics Part of Your Curriculum

 

From EdTech Digest https://www.edtechdigest.com/2021/07/06/6-reasons-to-make-virtual-robotics-program-a-core-part-of-your-curriculum/

 

trends

6 Reasons to Make Virtual Robotics Program a Core Part of Your Curriculum

July 06, 2021

Why all schools should integrate a virtual coding and robotics platform into their learning environments.

GUEST COLUMN | by Paul Keeney

Internationally, robotics and coding are becoming required curriculums for middle and high school students, yet the U.S. remains behind schedule in this area. Where many other countries are infusing coding, robotics, and computational thinking into their curriculums, a lot of schools here are stuck in somewhat of a technology inertia as they look for ways to catch up.

‘Middle school students like action, and they like things to have a purpose.’

Here are six key reasons why I see virtual coding and robotics programs becoming a mainstay in our nation’s schools:

1. Virtual robots are just as “real” as their physical counterparts. One day I opened up the cabinet full of robots and told my class, “There’s $8,000 worth of robots in here, but we can’t use them because the school district is not letting us share equipment this year.” I then asked my hybrid schedule students to look at the robot on their computer screens, and they noticed right away that it was the same robot design.

So, where our revamped robotics course may be fully online, it’s based on real-world applications that students can relate to and engage with in a blended learning model. Also, because I understand the LEGO EV3 programming (that’s what I normally teach in my class), the transition to using the CoderZ STEM curriculum was very easy.

2. Virtual robotics helps students develop new skills. Physical robots often lead kids to focus more on design and less of the coding, science, and math skills that drive the virtual robots.

3. They support equity in education. Virtual robotics promote equity because every student in a district can get access to the platform—not just those that attend a school with a robotics platform, or that can afford an after-school club or elective.

4. Kids can work at their own pace. Our Computer Science/STEM curriculum provides the perfect solution for a self-paced, flipped, or blended classroom where kids can use the same skills that they would even if they were using real robots. Only now there’s no hardware to worry about; it’s all online. Knowing this, I’ve also suggested our STEM platform to other teachers who teach technology education at other schools in our district.

‘This is helpful as I pivot between in-class, distance, and hybrid learning…’

5. Students love it. Our robotics platform is engaging for students and includes a lot of different gamification qualities. Middle school students like action, and they like things to have a purpose. Because the STEM platform is basically an obstacle course-based set of challenges, most of them jump onto that and want to do well and get it right.

And when they don’t get it right, those students are anxious to keep improving until they do, versus seeing the coding work as an assignment or a chore. The curriculum is instructional, but not so much so that students get bored with it.

6. Teachers can easily track student progress and understanding. I use the built-in scoring within the platform to track student progress, and track the red, yellow, and green lights for every activity. I assign points based on the completed activities and level of comprehension. This is helpful as I pivot between in-class, distance, and hybrid learning, as I end up spending entirely too much time writing new activities and adjusting my current lesson plans.

This, in turn, impacts how I manage my grading system. With our STEM program, I can quickly review all of the progress made on mini-lessons, and detect potential problems (i.e., not many “dots” filled in means not a lot of work was completed). 

It’s a No-Brainer

If your school is trying to come up with something that you can teach in any learning model – distance learning or in-person or a mix of both, this coding and robotics platform is a no-brainer because it’s structured well, engages students at a high level, and is teacher-friendly. In fact, even a teacher without a strong background in robotics or coding can pick the curriculum up and start using it on day one. In return, students learn the future-ready career skills that employers are looking for via a fun software package that’s easy to manage and teach.

—

Paul Keeney is technology education and engineering instructor at Oak View Middle School in Andover, Minn. Connect with him here: school website.

Robots @ Amazon's Fulfillment Centers

Manicure Robot - Does the Job Fast & Cheap

 (from https://ktla.com/morning-news/technology/clockwork-manicure-robot-san-francisco/ )

A robot is now doing manicures in San Francisco!

 

 

A company named Clockwork says it has the world’s first nail painting robot, which paints nails in just 10 minutes.

The price? Just $8.

Right now, the robot doesn’t cut or shape nails, but the website hints those features could be coming soon.

TikTok user Elissa Maercklein posted a video of the robot with the caption “living in the future.”

The company behind the bot says they design robots that “liberate people from everyday mundane tasks.”

Mechatronics Degree Program Growing

 

"Mechatronics Degree Program Growing at UT Chattanooga

Mechatronics, an interdisciplinary field combining robotics with electrical and mechanical engineering, is an in-demand field for engineers and a burgeoning program at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga.

by Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn. / April 1, 2021

 

(TNS) — Kalen Berry began his collegiate training at Tennessee Technology University studying to become an electrical engineer, but after an internship with Logan Aluminum, the Knoxville native also got interested in mechanical engineering and working with computers to make machines and robots do more tasks.

Berry's diverse engineering interests came together in the study of mechatronics at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which began offering as a bachelor's in applied science degree two years ago.

"When I heard about what was going on at UTC, I jumped at the chance to come here and it was a great opportunity to use all of the engineering skills and fields I was interested in and it was great to be able to do that in much more personalized program," said Berry, who graduated as one of the first UTC graduates of the mechatronics engineering program last December.

In July, the 25-year-old Chattanooga engineer will join Thermo Fisher Scientific where he hopes to advance into engineering and managements jobs in the growing field of robots, artificial intelligence and other machine-based disciplines.

"Mechatronics is really key to the new applied technologies we're seeing in manufacturing, medicine, the automotive industry and many other businesses and there are a lot of exciting opportunities," said Berry, who likens the field to a swiss army knife capable of many diverse uses. "I was able at UTC to work on two published academic articles and also start a student mechatronics club while at UTC. I think there is a huge potential for more growth here and to do it in an environment where you are regarded as much more than just another number or another student."

As demand for mechatronics talent continues to grow, UTC's engineering school became only the second four-year degree program in Tennessee to offer a mechatronic engineering specialty. Ahad Nasab, head of the Department of Engineering Management and Technology, brought the program to UTC after creating the state's first four-year program in mechatronics engineering at Middle Tennessee State University, starting in 2013..."

Read the full article at its source: https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/Mechatronics-Degree-Program-Growing-at-UT-Chattanooga.html?utm_term=READ%20MORE&utm_campaign=Mechatronics%20Degree%20Program%20Growing%20at%20UT%20Chattanooga&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email 

Robotic Kitchen At Spyce In Boston

artwork by humanoid robot sells at auction for nearly $700,000

Wanna talk about disruptive technology? Game changing applications? Where and how does Artificial Intelligence cross over to Artificial Creativity?

 

 

 

 

 https://youtu.be/wwSGYmrUHHA

 

Choreography for Dancing Robots

 Meet the Choreographer Behind Those Dancing Robots

"With just a few days left in 2020, renowned robotics company Boston Dynamics released a music video that featured a variety of two-legged, four-legged and wheeled robots dancing to The Contours' "Do You Love Me." The piece swiftly went viral, and has since been viewed nearly 30 million times. The choreography is, in short, bonkers, and uncannily illustrates the dexterity, balance and coordination of Boston Dynamics' designs.

As is typical of corporate marketing, however, no individual makers were credited, leaving folks in the dance community to wonder, who choreographed that? I dug through discussions of the project on Reddit and Twitter, learned the choreographer is Monica Thomas, and reached out to her immediately to learn more.

Can you tell us a bit about your personal dance history?

Yes! I was trained in the Cecchetti method, and I remained committed to ballet through high school although I took modern, jazz and tap classes along the way. In college, I began choreographing on my own and with others. In my senior year two friends—Theresa Madaus and Tara King—and I decided to make a "joke" dance. This collaboration turned out to be really significant: After college, we formed Mad King Thomas, and have made dances, installations and films together for over 10 years.

Before you started working with Boston Dynamics, were you familiar with their work?

I have a strong memory of seeing BigDog being pushed over and refind its balance, and slipping on ice but staying upright. It has stuck with me for years. I became familiar with Boston Dynamics when I moved back East, and was involved in the Uptown Spot project.

Can you tell us a bit about your creative process with the robots and the technical team? How did you go from ideas to action?

Marc Raibert, the founder of Boston Dynamics, who directed the video, sent a generous initial brief that gave me a lot of autonomy to come up with ideas. Early in the process I consulted with my long-term collaborators to flesh out conceptual and musical ideas. I would then bring these back to Marc. We ended up choosing "Do You Love Me?," which we both found appealing.

I spent time watching the robots move to get a sense of joint flexibility, etc. I then made a dance on my body to act out each part. I hired dancers to learn this choreography, which allowed it to be put together in one sequence for filming. I gave a video of the whole dance to Boston Dynamics, as well as each robot's part (except Handle—I tried to choreograph Handle using a hoverboard and mostly made myself nauseous)..."

 Read the full article at its source: https://www.dancemagazine.com/boston-dynamics-dancing-robots-2651193214.html 

MISSION TO MARS: students build Mars rovers

 

 From https://www.newsandtribune.com/
news/mission-to-mars-henryville-students-build-mars-rovers/article_b2905a4e-88df-11eb-ab26-5f74825e284f.html 
By APRILE RICKERT aprile.rickert@newsandtribune.com

"MISSION TO MARS: Henryville students build Mars rovers"

"HENRYVILLE — NASA’s latest mission to Mars is providing a unique experience for Henryville High School students to learn about what it takes to make a rover successful on the red planet, which educators say they hope can help inspire students toward future careers.

Students in teacher Donna Gatza’s Biology classes are spending seven weeks of their 18-week semester on a series of projects related to the Mars rover Perseverance, which launched July 30 and landed Feb. 21 in the Jezero Crater on Mars. The mission’s aim is to seek signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples, potentially to take back to Earth.

“NASA has provided all kinds of incredible activities for the kids to learn hands-on, to be exposed to different careers, to be experienced to different things,” Gatza said. “Until this happened, how many people knew there was a thing called Astrobiology? It’s important to get the kids excited about something and out of their books.”

The lesson plans and activities have included students building their own rovers. Working in teams, they selected the size and type of materials (made from dried pasta) based on their budget, then designed and built the rovers using an app on their Chromebooks.

“[They] had to pick a launch system, there was budget in this and everything has a cost,” the teacher said. “So they had to design their entire mission based on what they had a budget for. And then there were some funky things like they missed a launch date, the government cut their funding — the things that really happen.”

Read the full article at its source: https://www.newsandtribune.com/news/mission-to-mars-henryville-students-build-mars-rovers/article_b2905a4e-88df-11eb-ab26-5f74825e284f.html

Challenges with remote learning? The first is engagement!!! Student Robotics in the Age of COVID

From EdSurge
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-01-26-how-leveraging-curiosity-may-keep-students-engaged-from-afar

"How Leveraging Curiosity May Keep Students Engaged From Afar"

Faith Bongiorno began her teaching career as an “art-on-the-cart” educator. But that changed one day when her son told her he wanted to participate in FIRSTⓇ LEGOⓇ League, a robotics program created through an alliance between FIRSTⓇ (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and LEGOⓇ Education. Curiosity piqued, she presented the program to her principal, worked to secure funding and stepped up to coach the after-school program.

Being one educator that engages 30 kids online effectively is a challenge.

This newfound passion led Bongiorno to transition to teaching general technology in the classroom and, eventually, robotics. Now, she’s a full-time education implementation specialist for FIRST and still works closely with a number of robotics teams in her area, including some high school seniors who were on her original team nine years ago. And, just like other educators, she’s been working hard to keep kids in the program engaged and safe from afar.

Bongiorno spoke with us about her experience with FIRST, STEM education and navigating remote instruction—as both an educator and parent—during the COVID-19 pandemic.

EdSurge: What challenges are you seeing with remote learning?

Bongiorno: The first is engagement. Being one educator that engages 30 kids online effectively is a challenge. For the students, it’s a challenge to feel comfortable and, as Brené Brown says, to be vulnerable and brave to step out into that arena...."

Read the rest of this article at its source: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-01-26-how-leveraging-curiosity-may-keep-students-engaged-from-afar