If this robot has a day job, maybe he shouldn't give it up just yet. What do you think?
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Talking and Writing about Robot Creation Underscores Its Connection to Life, Job, and Literacy Learning
GUEST BLOGGER: Dr. Rose Reissman
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Building a Robot - Building
Life, Job, and Literacy Skills
Student teams engaged in robot building can re-direct their
joyous peer collaboration enthusiasm to reflecting in writing and peer
conversation on the many life, job and personal capacities that robotics
develops. By providing a little time for students to explicitly express how
they can connect robotics to general workplace team skills and personal
leadership/collaboration styles, they get an opportunity to focus on robot
building as a training exercise for adult workplace and teaming skills. This
enhances the value of Robotics, and other STEM activities, as the seed for
adult problem solving and social living skills.
One class of 6th grade students doing a robot building project led by technology educators Angelo Carideo and David Liotta at IS 62, Ditmas (a Brooklyn middle school) took a written survey and then engaged in an important conversation about the life lessons they learned through robot building. Here are some of the high points:
Frustration
One class of 6th grade students doing a robot building project led by technology educators Angelo Carideo and David Liotta at IS 62, Ditmas (a Brooklyn middle school) took a written survey and then engaged in an important conversation about the life lessons they learned through robot building. Here are some of the high points:
Frustration
They
described frustration that can accompany the group robot building experience:
the search for missing pieces necessary to complete their robots - individual
team members who try to dominate the group – the problem of some students
exclusively focusing on programming and not participating in the building - and
others who just sat by. Then they connected this same frustration with the
frustration they experience with school or at home. Some said their frustration
matched their parents’ frustration with co-workers who “goofed off.” Some
students did oral history interviews with parents to find out the extent to
which their work and social lives rely on teaming.
Frustrations can boil over. One student described how he got to the point of thinking “about breaking the robot” because its color sensor did not function. Sometimes kit pieces didn’t fit. Several students described intense frustrations when their robot failed to perform. Getting the robot’s program to result in making a full turn was a task that pushed them to the limit.Prompted, students connected “missing pieces” in robot building to other instances of missing pieces in life. Students in search of birth parents saw this as a “missing pieces” investigation to find life truths that eluded them.
Fixes
How had they “fixed” issues or problems to successfully build a functioning robot? Those groups who were frustrated by the loss of crucial kit pieces came up with the idea of organizing and inventorying pieces. This allowed them to keep track of the pieces more effectively. One student noted that successful programming required reviewing all the programming possibilities. She undertook that task with another team member to find a series of commands that would work for their robot. One student became the scheduler/organizer who assigned turns at building or programming. Another girl took responsibility for faulty programming and finally got it right. She was “really happy” when it worked. Another team used the manual to get its robot wiring right. Some teams simply went forward without a pivotal ball and a front bumper, revamping their design to take advantage of parts that were available.
Actual Applications to a real life, career or job challenge? Inventorying items turned out to be a job that one student’s uncle had at a local 99 cent store. Another student recalled a hardware store clerk who had a written inventory of screw types available with a back order list. Scheduling was familiar to students because they worked in a dean’s or principal’s office. They mentioned a scheduled line-up for access to computers in the library. Students mentioned their own multitasking parents, teachers, and coaches who got tasks done on time, whether or not others helped. Some felt that this ability was necessary in real life to success.
They reflected on what, in real life, got done, but not exactly how it was planned or expected? This question took a while getting a response. A student artist noted that a mural he worked on in another school came out great, but was not really the design he set out to do. Students detailed how family meals went off without required silverware or china plates and sufficient dish ingredients. Ultimately most students joyously shared their ultimate success in programming the robots successfully in spite of frustrations.
Frustrations can boil over. One student described how he got to the point of thinking “about breaking the robot” because its color sensor did not function. Sometimes kit pieces didn’t fit. Several students described intense frustrations when their robot failed to perform. Getting the robot’s program to result in making a full turn was a task that pushed them to the limit.Prompted, students connected “missing pieces” in robot building to other instances of missing pieces in life. Students in search of birth parents saw this as a “missing pieces” investigation to find life truths that eluded them.
Fixes
How had they “fixed” issues or problems to successfully build a functioning robot? Those groups who were frustrated by the loss of crucial kit pieces came up with the idea of organizing and inventorying pieces. This allowed them to keep track of the pieces more effectively. One student noted that successful programming required reviewing all the programming possibilities. She undertook that task with another team member to find a series of commands that would work for their robot. One student became the scheduler/organizer who assigned turns at building or programming. Another girl took responsibility for faulty programming and finally got it right. She was “really happy” when it worked. Another team used the manual to get its robot wiring right. Some teams simply went forward without a pivotal ball and a front bumper, revamping their design to take advantage of parts that were available.
Actual Applications to a real life, career or job challenge? Inventorying items turned out to be a job that one student’s uncle had at a local 99 cent store. Another student recalled a hardware store clerk who had a written inventory of screw types available with a back order list. Scheduling was familiar to students because they worked in a dean’s or principal’s office. They mentioned a scheduled line-up for access to computers in the library. Students mentioned their own multitasking parents, teachers, and coaches who got tasks done on time, whether or not others helped. Some felt that this ability was necessary in real life to success.
They reflected on what, in real life, got done, but not exactly how it was planned or expected? This question took a while getting a response. A student artist noted that a mural he worked on in another school came out great, but was not really the design he set out to do. Students detailed how family meals went off without required silverware or china plates and sufficient dish ingredients. Ultimately most students joyously shared their ultimate success in programming the robots successfully in spite of frustrations.
Accomplishments Accented
“We basically put in a code, uploaded it to the robot, and the robot did what we told it to do” said one group. Some students basked in their robot’s ability to sense colors. One student was excited by the fact that this small robot had the capacity to react faster than a human. Some students were excited by teamwork: “All of us worked together, we weren’t a team; we were one single person working on a project.” One student found “using my hands to put each piece of the robot in place” was exciting. Another cited the “thrill of creating movements that seemed to come to life . . . I got to be in complete control of something… my robot… the robot’s name was Toby…I had to be careful with Toby because he was very fragile… without my group [he] would never have been created… that’s the best feeling in the world.”
From concept to building to programming, robotics parallels life’s journey of personal, career, and citizen goals. To produce and reflect on a shared effort is a goal that teachers, parents, entrepreneurs, politicians, and leaders share. Robot building models a life process that involves following directions and working together. Talking and writing about it concretizes robot building by underscoring its life lessons.
“We basically put in a code, uploaded it to the robot, and the robot did what we told it to do” said one group. Some students basked in their robot’s ability to sense colors. One student was excited by the fact that this small robot had the capacity to react faster than a human. Some students were excited by teamwork: “All of us worked together, we weren’t a team; we were one single person working on a project.” One student found “using my hands to put each piece of the robot in place” was exciting. Another cited the “thrill of creating movements that seemed to come to life . . . I got to be in complete control of something… my robot… the robot’s name was Toby…I had to be careful with Toby because he was very fragile… without my group [he] would never have been created… that’s the best feeling in the world.”
From concept to building to programming, robotics parallels life’s journey of personal, career, and citizen goals. To produce and reflect on a shared effort is a goal that teachers, parents, entrepreneurs, politicians, and leaders share. Robot building models a life process that involves following directions and working together. Talking and writing about it concretizes robot building by underscoring its life lessons.
Dr. Rose Reissman,
Director of the Writing Institute
Dr. Reissman designed the survey and facilitated the literacy and life lessons reflections described in this piece
Director of the Writing Institute
Dr. Reissman designed the survey and facilitated the literacy and life lessons reflections described in this piece
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
RoboClam! Robot Inspired by Razer Clams is a Powerful Digging Machine
"Warning: Don’t try and stick this clam in your chowder. Scientists have built a robotic clam that isn't edible but could be incredibly useful, because it easily outperforms other commercial digging devices. This RoboClam, described at the American Physical Society meeting in Denver, could prove invaluable as low-energy anchors or as an environmentally safe way to lay down more intercontinental, undersea fiber-optic cables.
The Atlantic razor clam (Ensis directus) is a small, weak creature, about 4 to 8 inches in length. It has a weak squishy body that pokes, tongue-like, out of a long, narrow shell with a painfully sharp rim that looks like a closed straight razor (hence the nickname). And yet these clams can be hard to catch because of their remarkable burrowing ability – they can easily escape a hungry human digger.
The razor clam outstrips humans' mechanical diggers, too. When researchers compared the digging efficiency of the clam to commercial digging devices like anchors, it found that it was 10 times as efficient at digging as the machines on the market. This means it uses far less energy to get through such densely packed sand. But what gave the razor clam, not to put too fine a point on it, such an edge?
A team of researchers from MIT and the University of Maryland decided to find out.
“The idea was just to trust that nature has designed a good way to do this,” said lead author Kerstin Nordstrom, a soft-matter physicist at the University of Maryland.
The scientists studied the razor clam and found that it digs quickly by "fluidizing" the sand it’s digging into, making it act like a fluid rather than a solid. It does this by contracting its body and sort of sucking in, creating a vacuum that causes the sand to become unstable and start moving around. This fluid-like mix of grains and water is much easier to displace and dig through than a floor of solid, unmoving sand.
With this principle in mind, the researchers built a prototype that would fluidize the sand in the same way. Nordstrom and her colleagues used a mathematical model to check whether the RoboClam was properly fluidizing sand. They found that timing was key: start digging too quickly, and the sand wouldn’t have enough time to "get up to speed"; start digging too late, and the sand would have already started settling..."
The RoboClam worked as they predicted. Researchers are now building a larger version at MIT
Read the full article at its source:
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-roboclam-robot-clam-digs-physics-bioinspired-20140305,0,2581617.story#axzz2vl9V9Wdm
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Robot Testing: Team 395: 2 Train Robotics, a high school robotics team, at work
This was forwarded to me by Gary Israel, proud coach of 2 Train Robotics. Good luck, 2 Train, here's wishing you a great season. Make us proud... AGAIN!
Friday, February 7, 2014
Meeting the autism challenge with advanced social robotics
A digression from this blog's principal theme of the evolving role of robotics in human life. Here's a fascinating glimpse into the role of robotics as an out-of-the-box learning resource....
INTERVIEW | by Victor Rivero
First there was humankind, now there’s RoboKind. When you hear it from Fred Margolin, CEO and co-founder of RoboKind, an advanced social robotics company, you begin to understand the power of what’s possible with robots, and why some of the nation’s top experts in robotics, artificial intelligence and electrical, mechanical and software engineering are all working so passionately. They are behind the technology that produces
Victor: What drives the development process of social robotics and the Robots4Autism program at RoboKind?
Fred: RoboKind has a vision of how social robots can best serve the special education, autism therapy and STEM instruction markets; a vision which drives everything we develop. Our goal is to create a long-term platform for communication, information and entertainment.
With regard to Robots4Autism, we developed each aspect of the robot to leverage the fascination with technology that engages many individuals with autism. Our development strategy, however, also encompasses the principle of attainability, so that these robots remain affordable for schools and therapy centers. Finally, we’ve gathered user feedback from autism treatment experts at the Callier Center for Communication Disorders at the University of Texas at Dallas. With their guidance, the robot became part of a team effort, expanding the role of teachers and therapists in an efficient and effective manner.
Victor: What are the benefits of incorporating social robots into autism intervention and education?
Fred: There are three major benefits. First, the robot offers a non-threatening platform to deliver the behavioral curriculum. With life-like facial expressions, the robot teaches emotions and social skills, and the child is not intimidated, as he or she might be with human interactions. In fact, one therapist reported that two children who previously refused to speak with staff began speaking to the robot within 10 minutes of interaction.
Another benefit is the ability of our CompuCompassion software to read the child’s emotions and level of attentiveness, and use this information to adjust its interaction. If the software senses distraction or disengagement, it redirects the child’s attention, promoting a more consistent degree of engagement.
The third benefit of social robots is they never get bored, allowing for higher doses of interaction. While human teachers and therapists might tire of reiterations, Robots4Autism enables perfect repetition without any fluctuations in tone. Each phrase is pronounced again and again in the same manner, without a hint of frustration or impatience, until the child is ready to move onto the next task.
Read the full article at its source: http://edtechdigest.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/embracing-the-robot/
INTERVIEW | by Victor Rivero
First there was humankind, now there’s RoboKind. When you hear it from Fred Margolin, CEO and co-founder of RoboKind, an advanced social robotics company, you begin to understand the power of what’s possible with robots, and why some of the nation’s top experts in robotics, artificial intelligence and electrical, mechanical and software engineering are all working so passionately. They are behind the technology that produces
When you put everything together, you have a tool that is completely attuned to special education.
the amazing RoboKind facial expressions for what they believe are the most lifelike robots in the world. The robots also have humanoid bodies, and even what Fred describes as “CompuCompassion” — which he talks about in more depth in this interview. For education, the implications aren’t just fascinating. Autistic and special needs children are already benefitting with immediate results. How did Fred get involved in this line of work? “My son worked closely as an engineer with David Hanson, whose company, Hanson Robotics, pioneered the development of robots with human-like faces,” he explains. “I recognized the huge potential of these robots, but also that they needed to be scaled down in price and size before entering the consumer market.” Fred bought the patent, and as a result, his company is able to offer the most affordable humanoid robots available today. Fred is a graduate of Harvard Business School where he obtained his MBA, and he earned his B.A. at The Wharton School of Business and The University of Pennsylvania. In this discussion, he addresses what his company has developed, what happens when these tools are used in special education, and he goes into much more depth about the very human approach behind Robots4Autism.Victor: What drives the development process of social robotics and the Robots4Autism program at RoboKind?
Fred: RoboKind has a vision of how social robots can best serve the special education, autism therapy and STEM instruction markets; a vision which drives everything we develop. Our goal is to create a long-term platform for communication, information and entertainment.
With regard to Robots4Autism, we developed each aspect of the robot to leverage the fascination with technology that engages many individuals with autism. Our development strategy, however, also encompasses the principle of attainability, so that these robots remain affordable for schools and therapy centers. Finally, we’ve gathered user feedback from autism treatment experts at the Callier Center for Communication Disorders at the University of Texas at Dallas. With their guidance, the robot became part of a team effort, expanding the role of teachers and therapists in an efficient and effective manner.
Victor: What are the benefits of incorporating social robots into autism intervention and education?
Fred: There are three major benefits. First, the robot offers a non-threatening platform to deliver the behavioral curriculum. With life-like facial expressions, the robot teaches emotions and social skills, and the child is not intimidated, as he or she might be with human interactions. In fact, one therapist reported that two children who previously refused to speak with staff began speaking to the robot within 10 minutes of interaction.
Another benefit is the ability of our CompuCompassion software to read the child’s emotions and level of attentiveness, and use this information to adjust its interaction. If the software senses distraction or disengagement, it redirects the child’s attention, promoting a more consistent degree of engagement.
The third benefit of social robots is they never get bored, allowing for higher doses of interaction. While human teachers and therapists might tire of reiterations, Robots4Autism enables perfect repetition without any fluctuations in tone. Each phrase is pronounced again and again in the same manner, without a hint of frustration or impatience, until the child is ready to move onto the next task.
Read the full article at its source: http://edtechdigest.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/embracing-the-robot/
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Robot Land: A Robot-centric Theme Park... What a Concept!
ROBOT LAND
"The ROBOT theme park: South Korea plans £380m attraction where visitors build their own droids and watch mechanical animals
- Theme park will include a robot R&D centre and a graduate school
- It is expected to open in 2016 and will feature rides, a water park, nightclubs, apartments and even a robotic aquarium"
"A futuristic new theme park that offers robot-themed roller coasters, a water park, exhibitions and even an aquarium with mechanical fish, is being built in South Korea.
The site in Incheon, south west of Seoul, will combine business and pleasure because as well as rides and shops selling the latest hi-tech robots, the theme park will also include a robot R&D centre as well as a kind of graduate school.
Expected to open as early as 2016, the theme park of the future will cost in the region of $625million (£380million), according to Discovery
The site will be a hybrid theme and research park so that some visitors will celebrate robots and have a fun day out, while others will be building the machines of the future in the same location..."
Read the full article at its source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2549393/The-ROBOT-theme-park-South-Korea-plans-380m-attraction-visitors-build-droids-watch-mechanical-animals.html
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