European researchers have developed technology enabling robots to obey Asimov’s golden rules of robotics: to do no harm to humans and to obey them.
Issac Asimov, widely regarded as the spiritual father of science fiction, outlined three rules that all robots in his future worlds must obey. The most important two were: a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; and a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
However, robotics in the real world has trouble striking a workable balance between these two requirements. Robots can perform tasks efficiently in controlled environments away from humans, or they can interact with humans if properly equipped with sensors to avoid any harm. But that degree of ‘sensing’ also creates complexity and a lack of robustness to hardware and software failures which, in turn, affects safety. Of course, robots could be safe if they move slowly enough, or work far away enough from humans – but then, their dexterity and effectiveness are dramatically reduced.
“Despite the scenarios science fiction has been depicting for decades of concrete human-robot interactions, we are still a long way from that reality,” says Antonio Bicchi of the University of Pisa’s Faculty of Engineering. “Most robots today can only work safely if segregated from humans, or if they move very slowly. The trade-off between safety and performance is the name of the game in physical human-machine interactions.”
Building solid Phriendships
Bicchi coordinates the EU-funded Phriends project to create a new generation of robots which is both intrinsically safe and versatile enough to interact with humans. “The most revolutionary and challenging feature of Phriends is designing and building robots capable of guaranteeing safety in physical human-robot interactions (pHRI),” the robotics specialist explains.
For Phriends, safety means ensuring no accidents occur, even in the event of programming bugs, sensor glitches, or hardware and software failure. But creating a robot that is both completely safe and can perform useful functions requires what Bicchi calls a “paradigm shift” in approach.
This involved going back to the drawing board and rethinking how robots are designed and function. “The classical robotics approach is to design and build robots with a specific task in mind,” Bicchi notes. “The robots developed by Phriends will be intrinsically safe, since the safety is guaranteed by their very physical structure, and not by external sensors or algorithms that can fail.”
The project has worked on developing new actuators – the devices which move and control the robot – concepts and prototypes; new dependable algorithms for supervision and planning; as well as new control algorithms for handling safe human-robot physical interactions. These components are then integrated into functionally meaningful subsystems, and evaluated and tested empirically. The project is also contributing to ongoing international efforts to establish new standards for collaborative human-robot operation.
Flexing design muscle
Before we get carried away at the idea of having android friends and colleagues working beside us at the office or even at home, it should be pointed out that Phriends is taking what could be described as a one limb at a time approach.
The project’s main focus is on robot arms and the partners have turned to nature for inspiration in developing a prototype Variable Stiffness Actuator (VSA). Just as human and animal muscles move in opposite directions to move limbs, the VSA achieves simultaneous control of the robot arm by using two motors antagonistically to manipulate a non-linear spring which acts as an elastic transmission between each of the motors and the moving part.
One of the Phriends partners, the E Piaggio Centre for Robotics and Bioengineering at the University of Pisa (IT) has developed a second version of the VSA which uses a more sophisticated antagonistic concept to move robot joints directly.
“This approach makes the robot arm lighter because its structure is ‘soft’ when the robot moves fast and can collide with humans, and it becomes ‘hard’, or tensed, when performing tasks requiring precision,” describes Bicchi.
Crash courses in safety
Phriends, which received more than €2 million in funding from the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme for research, has followed both a proactive and reactive approach to accidents. It has designed its robots to anticipate potential collisions with humans and avoid them. But in the unpredictable world we live in accidents will happen, and collisions may occur anywhere along the arm.
Two of the project’s partners – DLR in Germany and the University of Rome in Italy – have developed an ingenious solution which, like humans, relies on ‘proprioception’ to determine the relative position of neighbouring components using special sensors. Such ‘self-awareness’ enables the robot to react promptly to collisions or crashes and resume safe operations.
But even a rapid correction may be no good if the robot is heavy and solid, as industrial arms traditionally are. Phriends has explored a number of ways to make impacts gentler, including lightweight robot design, soft visco-elastic covering on the links, and mechanically decoupling the heavy motor inertia from the link inertia.
Shockingly complex simplicity
In the greater scheme of things, Phriends is one small step for robotics, but one massive leap for pHRI. “The real challenge for the future of robotics is not to do something shockingly complex, but to do even simple things in a way that is safe, dependable, and acceptable to ordinary people, thus making human-robot coexistence possible,” remarks Bicchi. “The economic impact of safe and dependable robots in manufacturing is huge in terms of simplifying plant layouts, increasing the productivity of workers and machines, and for overall competitiveness.”
The project has already elicited industry interest. Germany’s Kuka Robotics, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial robots, is a partner in Phriends. Kuka will release a new robot arm in 2008 which incorporates some features developed by Phriends.
Outside the EU, companies in Japan and South Korea, which are also working on similar technologies, have contacted Phriends requesting their assistance in developing new technologies and products.
The technology the project has developed also has potential applications in other fields, including in sports training and physical rehabilitation.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Robotics company battling lawsuits
An attorney for an industrial robotics firm that is moving out of Adrian filed a motion Thursday in Lenawee County Circuit Court, asking to withdraw from two lawsuits involving AIDCO International Inc.
Thomas Walters of Bloomfield Hills claimed a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship in his motion. A hearing was scheduled for Sept. 29 for Judge Timothy P. Pickard to decide whether to allow Walters to withdraw. Trial dates now set for February and May would likely have to be adjourned.
The two lawsuits involving AIDCO were in court on Monday where orders were finalized on pending issues.
In one lawsuit, Graham Packaging Co. of York, Pa., is claiming a robotic packaging machine it bought from AIDCO in 2005 is unusable because of frequent breakdowns and malfunctions. It is asking the court to order AIDCO to take the machinery back and refund the $253,188 price.
AIDCO denies an alleged breach of contract. In a case summary filed March 3, attorney Walters stated Graham Packaging was using the equipment.
“AIDCO has made warranty calls to plaintiff’s plant and has resolved all issues with the machinery,” he stated.
A second lawsuit involves claims and counterclaims by AIDCO and parts supplier Nu-Con Automation of Kalamazoo.
Nu-Con claims AIDCO has not paid for $70,703.79 in goods and services delivered to the Adrian-based robotics business.
AIDCO counters that it has suffered financial losses due to faulty equipment supplied by Nu-Con.
“As a direct and proximate result of Nu-Con’s inability to recommend and provide cylinders that work properly and do not fail in the applications and environments in which they were known by Nu-Con to be intended for use, AIDCO has incurred damages which currently exceed the sum of $100,000 and continue to mount,” Walters stated in a March 5 complaint.
AIDCO announced a relocation to Cincinnati, Ohio, last year. The first phase of its move from a plant on Center Street in Adrian was to have been completed in February.
Thomas Walters of Bloomfield Hills claimed a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship in his motion. A hearing was scheduled for Sept. 29 for Judge Timothy P. Pickard to decide whether to allow Walters to withdraw. Trial dates now set for February and May would likely have to be adjourned.
The two lawsuits involving AIDCO were in court on Monday where orders were finalized on pending issues.
In one lawsuit, Graham Packaging Co. of York, Pa., is claiming a robotic packaging machine it bought from AIDCO in 2005 is unusable because of frequent breakdowns and malfunctions. It is asking the court to order AIDCO to take the machinery back and refund the $253,188 price.
AIDCO denies an alleged breach of contract. In a case summary filed March 3, attorney Walters stated Graham Packaging was using the equipment.
“AIDCO has made warranty calls to plaintiff’s plant and has resolved all issues with the machinery,” he stated.
A second lawsuit involves claims and counterclaims by AIDCO and parts supplier Nu-Con Automation of Kalamazoo.
Nu-Con claims AIDCO has not paid for $70,703.79 in goods and services delivered to the Adrian-based robotics business.
AIDCO counters that it has suffered financial losses due to faulty equipment supplied by Nu-Con.
“As a direct and proximate result of Nu-Con’s inability to recommend and provide cylinders that work properly and do not fail in the applications and environments in which they were known by Nu-Con to be intended for use, AIDCO has incurred damages which currently exceed the sum of $100,000 and continue to mount,” Walters stated in a March 5 complaint.
AIDCO announced a relocation to Cincinnati, Ohio, last year. The first phase of its move from a plant on Center Street in Adrian was to have been completed in February.
MIT adds robotics, voice control to wheelchair
MIT reports its researchers are developing a robotic, voice-driven wheelchair, which would allow a user to be able to tell the wheelchair to go to a specific location, rather than control every twist and turn.
The autonomous function of the chair is based on a map stored in its memory, the school said. The chair would adapt to a person’s personal habits and learn an individual’s particular name for a location, according to the school.
Rather than manually capturing a detailed map of a building, the MIT system can learn about its environment by being taken around once on a guided tour, with important places identified along the way — much the same as a human being. For example, as the wheelchair is pushed around a nursing home for the first time, the patient or a caregiver would say: “this is my room” or “here we are in the foyer” or “nurse’s station.”
The project is being co-developed by Nicholas Roy, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics. MIT AgeLab researcher Bryan Reimerm and Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory professor Seth Teller are also collaborating on the project.
Teller’s group at the CSAIL robotics, vision and sensor networks group is also working on a location-aware cellphone and industrial forklift that can autonomously transport large loads from place to place outdoors.
Roy and Teller have been exploring the use of wi-fi signals, which the chair uses, and wide-field cameras and laser rangefinders, coupled to computer systems that can construct and localize within an internal map of the environment as they move around. After preliminary tests on campus, they have begun trials with patients at the Boston Home in Dorchester, where all of the nearly 100 patients have partial or substantial loss of muscle control and use wheelchairs.
MIT said the researchers would like to add a collision-avoidance system using detectors to prevent the chair from bumping into other wheelchairs, walls or other obstacles. In addition, Teller says he hopes to add mechanical arms to the chairs, to help pick up and manipulate objects.
The autonomous function of the chair is based on a map stored in its memory, the school said. The chair would adapt to a person’s personal habits and learn an individual’s particular name for a location, according to the school.
Rather than manually capturing a detailed map of a building, the MIT system can learn about its environment by being taken around once on a guided tour, with important places identified along the way — much the same as a human being. For example, as the wheelchair is pushed around a nursing home for the first time, the patient or a caregiver would say: “this is my room” or “here we are in the foyer” or “nurse’s station.”
The project is being co-developed by Nicholas Roy, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics. MIT AgeLab researcher Bryan Reimerm and Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory professor Seth Teller are also collaborating on the project.
Teller’s group at the CSAIL robotics, vision and sensor networks group is also working on a location-aware cellphone and industrial forklift that can autonomously transport large loads from place to place outdoors.
Roy and Teller have been exploring the use of wi-fi signals, which the chair uses, and wide-field cameras and laser rangefinders, coupled to computer systems that can construct and localize within an internal map of the environment as they move around. After preliminary tests on campus, they have begun trials with patients at the Boston Home in Dorchester, where all of the nearly 100 patients have partial or substantial loss of muscle control and use wheelchairs.
MIT said the researchers would like to add a collision-avoidance system using detectors to prevent the chair from bumping into other wheelchairs, walls or other obstacles. In addition, Teller says he hopes to add mechanical arms to the chairs, to help pick up and manipulate objects.
ARM Will Take Key Role In Consumer Robotics Of The Future
Currently the majority of funding for robotics goes into the military and space exploration arenas, but the consumer market will be the largest robotics segment long term and ARM will play an important part, according to a report.
ABI Research believes there will be a battle for the space between x86 and ARM. “The challenge in personal robotics engineering is keeping costs low. Part of that is to fit complex software into as small an ARM processor as possible, with even lower-cost ARM processors handling subsystems of the robo,” explained ABI Research principal analyst Philip Solis.
An alternate way to get more processing power at little to no cost is to use a nearby PC to act as an external "brain," communicating with. Complete autonomy for the robot is preferable, and for that, powerful yet low-cost processors are needed, the report highlighted.
On the battle between ARM and x86 in this market, Solis said: “We would likely see very small, lower-power x86 processors used as the main processors, alongside ARM processors.”
ABI Research believes there will be a battle for the space between x86 and ARM. “The challenge in personal robotics engineering is keeping costs low. Part of that is to fit complex software into as small an ARM processor as possible, with even lower-cost ARM processors handling subsystems of the robo,” explained ABI Research principal analyst Philip Solis.
An alternate way to get more processing power at little to no cost is to use a nearby PC to act as an external "brain," communicating with. Complete autonomy for the robot is preferable, and for that, powerful yet low-cost processors are needed, the report highlighted.
On the battle between ARM and x86 in this market, Solis said: “We would likely see very small, lower-power x86 processors used as the main processors, alongside ARM processors.”
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
KUKA Robotics to Showcase its Robotic Machining Solution
KUKA Robotics Corporation proposes to exhibit its robotic machining solution designed for the Northern American manufacturing market at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2008 to be held in McCornick Place in Chicago, September 8-13, 2008.
The KUKA KR 100 HA (High Accuracy robot series) along with the KUKA.CAMROB Software, have been designed to assist in high precision applications like milling, trimming, routering, de-burring, dispensing, striping, gauging and laser processing.
KUKA CAMROB Software is capable of generating robot programs automatically from CNC data for several applications like pattern making, stone working, woodworking, metalworking and plastics. It also includes milling application modules which can be used to integrate milling tools. KUKA industrial robots exhibit maximum machining flexibility, and minimize investment costs.
With such offerings,KUKA is able to provide a complete system for an automatic CNC machine with a robot. The milling application modules enable integration of milling tools and additional components into a complete robotic system as standard products. This combination of new software and the KUKA robot enables easy and fast operation of a robot when used as a machine tool.
“The KUKA.CAMROB software opens up a whole new range of potential applications with robots for a wide variety of manufacturing processes,” remarked Stu Shepherd, president KUKA Robotics Corporation.
The system also offers functionality and flexibility as KUKA robots are able to mill, grind, glue, cut, saw and handle quick adaptation to changing production processes. More options become available as the KUKA robot does machining jobs with a 6-axis configuration.
In addition, presence of turn tables and linear units allow the integration of additional axes into the machining process. The 6-axis system is more cost-effective, reducing investment costs by nearly 50 percent and it also offers higher precision, quality and speed.
KUKA.CAMROB provides higher process speeds when compared to machine-assisted or manual machining.
Due to its flexibility, the custom configured system can be used in various applications including prototyping, pattern making, sectioning, engraving and polishing in stone working. KUKA provides systems with application specific components and tools for ensuring high-quality.
http://robotics.tmcnet.com/topics/robotics/articles
The KUKA KR 100 HA (High Accuracy robot series) along with the KUKA.CAMROB Software, have been designed to assist in high precision applications like milling, trimming, routering, de-burring, dispensing, striping, gauging and laser processing.
KUKA CAMROB Software is capable of generating robot programs automatically from CNC data for several applications like pattern making, stone working, woodworking, metalworking and plastics. It also includes milling application modules which can be used to integrate milling tools. KUKA industrial robots exhibit maximum machining flexibility, and minimize investment costs.
With such offerings,KUKA is able to provide a complete system for an automatic CNC machine with a robot. The milling application modules enable integration of milling tools and additional components into a complete robotic system as standard products. This combination of new software and the KUKA robot enables easy and fast operation of a robot when used as a machine tool.
“The KUKA.CAMROB software opens up a whole new range of potential applications with robots for a wide variety of manufacturing processes,” remarked Stu Shepherd, president KUKA Robotics Corporation.
The system also offers functionality and flexibility as KUKA robots are able to mill, grind, glue, cut, saw and handle quick adaptation to changing production processes. More options become available as the KUKA robot does machining jobs with a 6-axis configuration.
In addition, presence of turn tables and linear units allow the integration of additional axes into the machining process. The 6-axis system is more cost-effective, reducing investment costs by nearly 50 percent and it also offers higher precision, quality and speed.
KUKA.CAMROB provides higher process speeds when compared to machine-assisted or manual machining.
Due to its flexibility, the custom configured system can be used in various applications including prototyping, pattern making, sectioning, engraving and polishing in stone working. KUKA provides systems with application specific components and tools for ensuring high-quality.
http://robotics.tmcnet.com/topics/robotics/articles
Friday, August 29, 2008
Group seeks young scientists, engineers for robotics showcase
Partners for Progress of St. Charles County is looking for young people interested in math, science and technology for a robotics showcase this week.
The group will host a "Robotics Showcase" on Aug. 28 at St. Charles Community College.
The showcase encourages students to become the next generation of math, engineering, technology and science professionals, according to a news release.The showcase will run from 7-8:30 p.m. in the college's College Center at 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive in Cottleville.
The showcase event is designed to promote robotics as an "academic sport" to interest middle school and high school students. As part of the program, a $500 scholarship will be awarded to a participating 2009 graduating senior, according to the release.
In 2005, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported that only 18 percent of high school seniors are proficient in science. And 5 percent of current college graduates earn science, engineering or technology degrees, compared to 66 percent in Japan and 59 percent in China, according to the release.
"A competitive workforce is essential to job growth in St. Charles County," said Randy Schilling, chairman of Partners for Progress, a group of local business and civic leaders. "Participation in robotics is an avenue for students to develop skills necessary high-tech jobs while competing in a team sport."
Showcase activities include robot demonstrations, a video presentation of a robotics competition, one-on-one opportunities with team members, information on math, engineering and technology careers and scholarships, attendance prizes and refreshments.
The group will host a "Robotics Showcase" on Aug. 28 at St. Charles Community College.
The showcase encourages students to become the next generation of math, engineering, technology and science professionals, according to a news release.The showcase will run from 7-8:30 p.m. in the college's College Center at 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive in Cottleville.
The showcase event is designed to promote robotics as an "academic sport" to interest middle school and high school students. As part of the program, a $500 scholarship will be awarded to a participating 2009 graduating senior, according to the release.
In 2005, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported that only 18 percent of high school seniors are proficient in science. And 5 percent of current college graduates earn science, engineering or technology degrees, compared to 66 percent in Japan and 59 percent in China, according to the release.
"A competitive workforce is essential to job growth in St. Charles County," said Randy Schilling, chairman of Partners for Progress, a group of local business and civic leaders. "Participation in robotics is an avenue for students to develop skills necessary high-tech jobs while competing in a team sport."
Showcase activities include robot demonstrations, a video presentation of a robotics competition, one-on-one opportunities with team members, information on math, engineering and technology careers and scholarships, attendance prizes and refreshments.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
New Catalog on Nanopositioning Actuators, Piezo Stage Systems and Nano Robotics Released by PI
Nanopositioning Specialist PI has released a new catalog on nanopositioning and tools for nanorobotics The components and solutions shown in the catalog were developed for high-tech industries such as:
# Nanotechnology & Biotechnology
# Aerospace & Astronomy
# Medical Technology
# Microscopy & Imaging, Spectroscopy
# Photonics, Optics, Lasers
# Precision Machining
# Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test & Measurement
# Data Storage
The 163 page publication presents PI's state-of-the-art products and technologies -- such as:
# Nanometrology Sensors
# Ceramic Nanopositioning Actuators and Motors
# Nanopositioning Tools for Microscopy & Imaging
# Linear Piezoelectric Nanopositioning Stages
# Hybrid Nanopositioning Stages
# Z/Tip/Tilt Piezo Stages
# Fast Steering Mirrors
# XY & XYZ Scanning Stages
# 6 Axis Piezo Stages & Hexapods
# Piezo Controllers and Drivers
# Scanning Microscopy Stages
The catalog also includes a mini-tutorial on nanopositioning technology, with drawings, specifications, and data sheets for PI nanopositioning products and related accessories.
# Nanotechnology & Biotechnology
# Aerospace & Astronomy
# Medical Technology
# Microscopy & Imaging, Spectroscopy
# Photonics, Optics, Lasers
# Precision Machining
# Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test & Measurement
# Data Storage
The 163 page publication presents PI's state-of-the-art products and technologies -- such as:
# Nanometrology Sensors
# Ceramic Nanopositioning Actuators and Motors
# Nanopositioning Tools for Microscopy & Imaging
# Linear Piezoelectric Nanopositioning Stages
# Hybrid Nanopositioning Stages
# Z/Tip/Tilt Piezo Stages
# Fast Steering Mirrors
# XY & XYZ Scanning Stages
# 6 Axis Piezo Stages & Hexapods
# Piezo Controllers and Drivers
# Scanning Microscopy Stages
The catalog also includes a mini-tutorial on nanopositioning technology, with drawings, specifications, and data sheets for PI nanopositioning products and related accessories.
Snake-arm robots to aid working in dangerous, confined, and cluttered spaces
Snake-arm robots are flexible robotic arms without elbows to get in the way of operating in confined spaces. Snake-arm robots are flexible and compliant, like endoscopes, but they are controllable like a robot and can be precisely positioned, company officials say.
OC Robotics already has developed a snake-arm robot for Airbus in Toulouse, France, for assembly and inspection tasks within aircraft wings -- an area previously inaccessible to automation. The robot for Airbus is capable of sealing, swaging, and inspection inside a mockup of an aircraft wing rib bay. The robot now is set to begin testing.
The snake-arm robot moves its tip around obstacles with a tip-mounted camera. OC Robotics officials say it is effectively a controllable endoscope able to snake into awkward or cluttered environments.
OC Robotics already has developed a snake-arm robot for Airbus in Toulouse, France, for assembly and inspection tasks within aircraft wings -- an area previously inaccessible to automation. The robot for Airbus is capable of sealing, swaging, and inspection inside a mockup of an aircraft wing rib bay. The robot now is set to begin testing.
The snake-arm robot moves its tip around obstacles with a tip-mounted camera. OC Robotics officials say it is effectively a controllable endoscope able to snake into awkward or cluttered environments.
Club promotes robotics the fun way
It is with this in mind that a group of Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten) lecturers and undergraduates formed a club in 2006 to promote robotics through fun activities.
Thanks to the Mobile Robotics Club, a group of some 200 youngsters has been getting the chance to take part in numerous robotics competitions.
Its founding members, Koh Seng Yau of Kluang, Johor, and Saravanan Sivanandhan of Bentong, Pahang, believe that encouraging youngsters to participate in such competitions is the best way to help develop their interest in robotics.
Towards this end, the club, since 2006, has been organising the annual RoboGamez.
"We want to make learning science and technology fun and interesting by using a hands-on approach," said Koh.
Jointly organised with Uniten's College of Engineering, RoboGamez is a competition which sees fully-autono-mous and pre-programmed robots attempting to get out of a maze.
RoboGamez 2008 is partly sponsored by Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Uniten, with some of the funding coming from club members.
The competition will be held on Sept 5 and 6 at the Uniten Putrajaya campus. It is divided into three categories -- for schools, Uniten students and other institutions of higher learning.
Thanks to the Mobile Robotics Club, a group of some 200 youngsters has been getting the chance to take part in numerous robotics competitions.
Its founding members, Koh Seng Yau of Kluang, Johor, and Saravanan Sivanandhan of Bentong, Pahang, believe that encouraging youngsters to participate in such competitions is the best way to help develop their interest in robotics.
Towards this end, the club, since 2006, has been organising the annual RoboGamez.
"We want to make learning science and technology fun and interesting by using a hands-on approach," said Koh.
Jointly organised with Uniten's College of Engineering, RoboGamez is a competition which sees fully-autono-mous and pre-programmed robots attempting to get out of a maze.
RoboGamez 2008 is partly sponsored by Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Uniten, with some of the funding coming from club members.
The competition will be held on Sept 5 and 6 at the Uniten Putrajaya campus. It is divided into three categories -- for schools, Uniten students and other institutions of higher learning.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Former iRobot employees cultivate new idea
At a meeting of the MIT Enterprise Forum on July 30, a company that includes two former iRobot employees announced that it's developing an autonomous robot capable of...organizing potted plants.
While that may sound like a strange and fruitless project to spend years working on, the robot actually fulfills an industry need that could end up making their Groton, Mass.-based company a lot of green, Harvest Automation CTO Joe Jones and CEO Charles Grinnell told me in a phone interview. (The company earlier was known as Q Robotics.)
Where's the big business in potted plants? Everything from conifers that grow in your yard to office houseplants are often started and grown in those same plastic pots you buy them in at the garden store or home repair center.
Space is a large preoccupation for growers. Too little space between potted plants and the plants grow into each other or develop black spots as they mature, making them unsellable, said Grinnell.
If too much space is left between them from the start, land or greenhouse space is wasted. And because many growers use sprinkler systems, fertilizer and water that falls into the gaps is also wasted, and that wastes growers' money. Growers also want to minimize the amount of fertilizer seeping into the ground and from there into water supply, said Jones.
Currently growers use manual labor with sticks and ropes to rotate the pots and measure the space between them as the plants grow.
The autonomous robot is about two years away from being commercially available, but the current prototype can pick up potted plants between 1 and 3 gallons in size. The waterproof and sun-proof robot can carry the pots around and line them up in organized grids based on a grower's specifications.
Harvest Automation's robots have global awareness through beacons placed around the perimeter of a given area, and communicate the way the iRobot Roomba communicates with beacons that tell it which rooms to vacuum. While the battery technology has not yet been decided, the types of batteries the company is looking at would allow the robots to work for up to 8 hours and take about 4 hours to recharge.
While that may sound like a strange and fruitless project to spend years working on, the robot actually fulfills an industry need that could end up making their Groton, Mass.-based company a lot of green, Harvest Automation CTO Joe Jones and CEO Charles Grinnell told me in a phone interview. (The company earlier was known as Q Robotics.)
Where's the big business in potted plants? Everything from conifers that grow in your yard to office houseplants are often started and grown in those same plastic pots you buy them in at the garden store or home repair center.
Space is a large preoccupation for growers. Too little space between potted plants and the plants grow into each other or develop black spots as they mature, making them unsellable, said Grinnell.
If too much space is left between them from the start, land or greenhouse space is wasted. And because many growers use sprinkler systems, fertilizer and water that falls into the gaps is also wasted, and that wastes growers' money. Growers also want to minimize the amount of fertilizer seeping into the ground and from there into water supply, said Jones.
Currently growers use manual labor with sticks and ropes to rotate the pots and measure the space between them as the plants grow.
The autonomous robot is about two years away from being commercially available, but the current prototype can pick up potted plants between 1 and 3 gallons in size. The waterproof and sun-proof robot can carry the pots around and line them up in organized grids based on a grower's specifications.
Harvest Automation's robots have global awareness through beacons placed around the perimeter of a given area, and communicate the way the iRobot Roomba communicates with beacons that tell it which rooms to vacuum. While the battery technology has not yet been decided, the types of batteries the company is looking at would allow the robots to work for up to 8 hours and take about 4 hours to recharge.
Robotics help make algebra work
Based on the results from last year’s pilot program, more than 85% of students who took part in the institute passed algebra in ninth grade with a grade of C or better, the organizers said.
According to former L.A. Unified Supt. Roy Romer, failure in algebra “triggers dropouts more than any single subject.”
To address this, the nonprofit organization Project GRAD Los Angeles, in collaboration with universities and businesses, hosted a Middle School Summer Institute throughout July. The students were selected primarily because they were at risk of not enrolling in algebra next month.
During the month, students spent mornings learning about algebraic concepts and the afternoon learning how to apply them to manipulate Lego robots. All of the students also took a writing course, were exposed to college and careers in math and science, and visited the UCLA School of Engineering.
In Thursday's competition, student teams competed in a race through a skills course in which they had to program the robots to turn at certain angles. Students won prizes for speed, accuracy and creativity.
The mission of Project GRAD Los Angeles is to help students in historically underserved communities get access to high-quality public education and college.
According to former L.A. Unified Supt. Roy Romer, failure in algebra “triggers dropouts more than any single subject.”
To address this, the nonprofit organization Project GRAD Los Angeles, in collaboration with universities and businesses, hosted a Middle School Summer Institute throughout July. The students were selected primarily because they were at risk of not enrolling in algebra next month.
During the month, students spent mornings learning about algebraic concepts and the afternoon learning how to apply them to manipulate Lego robots. All of the students also took a writing course, were exposed to college and careers in math and science, and visited the UCLA School of Engineering.
In Thursday's competition, student teams competed in a race through a skills course in which they had to program the robots to turn at certain angles. Students won prizes for speed, accuracy and creativity.
The mission of Project GRAD Los Angeles is to help students in historically underserved communities get access to high-quality public education and college.
Students go to battle with robots
The kids in the Robotics Showdown probably never knew that engineering could get that rough as robots tumbled and crashed during each elimination round. "Have you ever seen anyone do that before?" a robot pilot exclaimed.
In fact, organizers of the summer internship say that most of the kids had little knowledge of how things went from concept to marketplace. "Their experience was nil," says program coordinator, Pam Lindley. "A lot of them hadn't even heard of the manufacturing industry."
So for eight weeks, some spent in the classroom, but most in machine shops around town; the kids were able to experience the full manufacturing process, including all the hits and the misses. "It's a trial and error type of thing. We had a couple of other designs before this, and you know stuff didn't work, so you've got to improvise," team member, Jason Butkowski said.
For some teams it was back to the drawing board, but at the end, everyone came out a winner. "While you're doing it, you learn so much that time goes by so fast that you just like, 'Wow, I did this?'" says recent high school grad, CeeCee Turner.
The City of Phoenix along with 23 advanced manufacturing businesses sponsored the program, hoping to spark interest in an area that could see labor shortages in mechanical engineering in the future.
In fact, organizers of the summer internship say that most of the kids had little knowledge of how things went from concept to marketplace. "Their experience was nil," says program coordinator, Pam Lindley. "A lot of them hadn't even heard of the manufacturing industry."
So for eight weeks, some spent in the classroom, but most in machine shops around town; the kids were able to experience the full manufacturing process, including all the hits and the misses. "It's a trial and error type of thing. We had a couple of other designs before this, and you know stuff didn't work, so you've got to improvise," team member, Jason Butkowski said.
For some teams it was back to the drawing board, but at the end, everyone came out a winner. "While you're doing it, you learn so much that time goes by so fast that you just like, 'Wow, I did this?'" says recent high school grad, CeeCee Turner.
The City of Phoenix along with 23 advanced manufacturing businesses sponsored the program, hoping to spark interest in an area that could see labor shortages in mechanical engineering in the future.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Complex classic meets robotic complexity
Robotics and a rose garden are two seemingly disparate elements that Quantum Theatre will use to bring William Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" to life.
A collaboration between Quantum Theatre and The Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, "Cymbeline" will begin performances Thursday in the Rose Garden of Mellon Park.
Using 21st-century technology and an outdoor setting are not just gimmicks to get attention, says Quantum Theatre's artistic director Karla Boos.
"It maximizes how to facilitate what I want to experiment with and serves the exploration of the play," she says.
Don't come expecting to see R2-D2 or Robbie the Robot substituting for actors.
"This is something far different from a walking, talking android," says Illah Nourbaksh, an associate professor at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University who has been working with Boos and her design team on the production.
Instead, Boos hints, the production will employ elements of robotic technology in more symbolic ways that may surprise and involve the audience.
"This piece of technology is an enabler of the old concept of more direct communication between audience and performer. ... I am so engaged about when we want the audience to affect the play and when we don't."
The towering cypress trees and greenery embrace the audience and stage, while infusions of high-tech machinery highlight the contrasts between the play's machine-like structure and the wildness of its plot, as well as the humanity revealed in the play's resolution, she says.
"Cymbeline," Shakespeare's seldom-done romantic drama is possibly his messiest work. Its title refers to King Cymbeline, a pre-Christian king who ruled Britain between 33 BC and 2 AD.
But most of the plot and the action revolves around Cymbeline's daughter, Imogen.
Imogen derails her father's plans to marry her to his second wife's son from her first marriage, instead marrying Cymbeline's adopted son, Posthumous.
Banished to Rome for marrying against the king's wishes, Posthumous falls in with Iachimo who bets Posthumous he can seduce the loyal Imogen.
Treachery, deception, lust, jealousy, betrayal, repentance, redemption and a whole lot more ensue before the drama is resolved with a happy ending of revelations, reunions and reconciliations.
"It's a deep play, a complex play. It's very funny. His takes on issues are very often unserious," says Boos. "It's important for me to do 'Cymbeline' without making a feminist statement and to see the parallels to our own government. This is a ruler who has many inadequacies and makes many mistakes. He does not come through the journey to knowledge a la King Lear."
Part thriller, part action drama, part romance, it's stitched together with plot devices familiar from other Shakespeare works -- women disguised as men, lovers mistakenly identified as dead and deceptions aided by pieces of jewelry or bloody handkerchiefs.
"It is a deeply experimental play. Shakespeare was using in new ways things he had combined or made conventions of his own work," Boos says. "He messes with them to a great degree. The cross-dressing journey (in 'Cymbeline') is to a different purpose than in 'As You Like It.' "
Shakespeare's play contains some two dozen speaking parts as well as parts for a horde of lords, ladies, Roman senators, soldiers, attendants, officers and musicians, as well as a soothsayer and apparitions.
The Quantum staging will offer a more streamlined and purposeful casting.
Mikelle Johnson, the production's sole female performer, will play King Cymbeline's much-wronged daughter, Imogen.
The gender-imbalanced casting is a deliberate attempt to heighten Imogen's sense of isolation.
A collaboration between Quantum Theatre and The Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, "Cymbeline" will begin performances Thursday in the Rose Garden of Mellon Park.
Using 21st-century technology and an outdoor setting are not just gimmicks to get attention, says Quantum Theatre's artistic director Karla Boos.
"It maximizes how to facilitate what I want to experiment with and serves the exploration of the play," she says.
Don't come expecting to see R2-D2 or Robbie the Robot substituting for actors.
"This is something far different from a walking, talking android," says Illah Nourbaksh, an associate professor at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University who has been working with Boos and her design team on the production.
Instead, Boos hints, the production will employ elements of robotic technology in more symbolic ways that may surprise and involve the audience.
"This piece of technology is an enabler of the old concept of more direct communication between audience and performer. ... I am so engaged about when we want the audience to affect the play and when we don't."
The towering cypress trees and greenery embrace the audience and stage, while infusions of high-tech machinery highlight the contrasts between the play's machine-like structure and the wildness of its plot, as well as the humanity revealed in the play's resolution, she says.
"Cymbeline," Shakespeare's seldom-done romantic drama is possibly his messiest work. Its title refers to King Cymbeline, a pre-Christian king who ruled Britain between 33 BC and 2 AD.
But most of the plot and the action revolves around Cymbeline's daughter, Imogen.
Imogen derails her father's plans to marry her to his second wife's son from her first marriage, instead marrying Cymbeline's adopted son, Posthumous.
Banished to Rome for marrying against the king's wishes, Posthumous falls in with Iachimo who bets Posthumous he can seduce the loyal Imogen.
Treachery, deception, lust, jealousy, betrayal, repentance, redemption and a whole lot more ensue before the drama is resolved with a happy ending of revelations, reunions and reconciliations.
"It's a deep play, a complex play. It's very funny. His takes on issues are very often unserious," says Boos. "It's important for me to do 'Cymbeline' without making a feminist statement and to see the parallels to our own government. This is a ruler who has many inadequacies and makes many mistakes. He does not come through the journey to knowledge a la King Lear."
Part thriller, part action drama, part romance, it's stitched together with plot devices familiar from other Shakespeare works -- women disguised as men, lovers mistakenly identified as dead and deceptions aided by pieces of jewelry or bloody handkerchiefs.
"It is a deeply experimental play. Shakespeare was using in new ways things he had combined or made conventions of his own work," Boos says. "He messes with them to a great degree. The cross-dressing journey (in 'Cymbeline') is to a different purpose than in 'As You Like It.' "
Shakespeare's play contains some two dozen speaking parts as well as parts for a horde of lords, ladies, Roman senators, soldiers, attendants, officers and musicians, as well as a soothsayer and apparitions.
The Quantum staging will offer a more streamlined and purposeful casting.
Mikelle Johnson, the production's sole female performer, will play King Cymbeline's much-wronged daughter, Imogen.
The gender-imbalanced casting is a deliberate attempt to heighten Imogen's sense of isolation.
Our view: Innovation has region on brink of economic revival
Robotics, photolithography, clean energy — these technologies and others hold great promise for the region north of Boston whose brainpower is its greatest natural resource. There were these developments this month:
r The North Shore Technology Council launched its North Shore Life Sciences Accelerator, based at the Cummings Center in Beverly, whose mission is to "nurture select, early-stage biotech or medical-device firms with strong technologies and business plans."
r The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Co., run by the state's 40 municipal utilities, including those in Peabody, Danvers, Ipswich, Middleton and Marblehead, announced a new program aimed at encouraging the use of solar power for electricity production.
The state has a goal of having 250 megawatts of solar power capacity in place by 2017, and this initiative will help companies like Solectra Renewables of Lawrence, which manufactures the equipment needed to convert renewable energy like solar power into useful electricity.
r At a meeting at iRobot Corp. in Bedford, Gov. Deval Patrick hailed the robotics industry as a "critical and burgeoning sector of economy." More than 2,500 people are currently employed in the field, and annual sales are approaching the $1 billion mark.
Between global giants like Gloucester's Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, a pioneer in the use of photolithography for the manufacture of microchips, and those start-ups still struggling for a foothold, the region appears poised for an economic revival built on what Patrick, during his iRobot visit, described as "our unique concentration of educational resources, innovative capacity and entrepreneurial spirit."
r The North Shore Technology Council launched its North Shore Life Sciences Accelerator, based at the Cummings Center in Beverly, whose mission is to "nurture select, early-stage biotech or medical-device firms with strong technologies and business plans."
r The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Co., run by the state's 40 municipal utilities, including those in Peabody, Danvers, Ipswich, Middleton and Marblehead, announced a new program aimed at encouraging the use of solar power for electricity production.
The state has a goal of having 250 megawatts of solar power capacity in place by 2017, and this initiative will help companies like Solectra Renewables of Lawrence, which manufactures the equipment needed to convert renewable energy like solar power into useful electricity.
r At a meeting at iRobot Corp. in Bedford, Gov. Deval Patrick hailed the robotics industry as a "critical and burgeoning sector of economy." More than 2,500 people are currently employed in the field, and annual sales are approaching the $1 billion mark.
Between global giants like Gloucester's Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, a pioneer in the use of photolithography for the manufacture of microchips, and those start-ups still struggling for a foothold, the region appears poised for an economic revival built on what Patrick, during his iRobot visit, described as "our unique concentration of educational resources, innovative capacity and entrepreneurial spirit."
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Robot playmates may help children with autism
Papers delivered at three conferences in the US and Europe this summer report on new research at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering studying interactions of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) with bubble-blowing robots.
The preliminary studies, by Professor Maja Matarić and PhD student David Feil-Seifer of the USC Interaction Laboratory, confirm what has been widely reported anecdotally: that ASD children in many cases interact more easily with mechanical devices than with humans.
Matarić and Feil-Seifer, both specialists in Socially Assisted Robotics (SAR), are now engaged in further research to confirm their findings, and to develop a robot "control architecture" which will tailor robot interactions to the specific needs of ASD children to help therapists treating their condition.
The initial study, reported in the June Conference on Interaction Design for Children with Special Needs in Chicago, tested whether interaction as opposed to simple passive observation was going on between ASD children and a colorful bubble-blowing wheeled robot.
The robot had two settings. In one, it carried on its rolling and bubble blowing on its own internal schedule, regardless of the behavior of the child. In the other, "when the child pushes a button, then the bubbles blow," in the words of the Chicago presentation.
The study watched the children and observed differences. "We found that the behavior of the robot affects the social behavior of a child (both human-human interaction and human-robot interaction): social behavior with a contingent robot was greater than with a random robot.
"Total speech went from 39.4 to 48.4 utterances, robot speech from 6.2 to 6.6 utterances, and parent speech from 17.8 to 33 utterances. Total robot interactions went from 43.42 to 55.31, with button pushes increasing from 14.69 to 21.87 and other robot interactions going from 24.11 to 28. Total directed interactions (interactions that were clearly directed at either the robot or the parent) went up from 62.75 to 89.47. Generally, when the robot was acting contingently, the child was more sociable."
While only four children were part of the initial study, Feil-Seifer and Matarić believe the work clearly demonstrates the ability of robots to actively engage with ASD children - "offer a doorway into their attention," Matarić says. A much more extensive follow-up with more subjects is already in progress, in collaboration with Los Angeles Childrens Hospital and the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange.
Two other presentations by Feil-Seifer and Matarić, at the 11th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics 2008 in Athens, Greece in July, 2008, and at the IEEE Proceedings of the International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, discuss these results in more detail, particularly in regard to the "Behavior-Based Behavior Intervention Architecture" (B3IA) they have developed to make the robots flexible and useful tools help ASD children.
This architecture (the system, including robotic and non-robotic components, plus provisions for recording and analyzing the proceedings) is based on an ASD therapy format called DIR/Floortime, in which a therapist shares floor with various toys used to try to engage the child.
Matarić and Feil-Seifer, in collaboration with Dr. Marian Williams from Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and Shri Narayanan from Viterbi School's Department of Electrical Engineering, are replacing toys with robots, both the rolling robots with horns and bubble blowers used in the initial results, and humanoid robots capable of smiles and other expression.
Behind the scenes, the architecture also includes an overhead video view that analyzes, documents, and stores every interaction, and a control system for the therapist operator that allows for switching between scenarios for interaction with the child, to concentrate on what works, and change what works to make it work better -- while still retaining a standard record-keeping and monitoring system used in ASD therapy.
Matarić has for years been working in the field of socially assisted robots to help a variety of other user populations, including patients with Alzheimer's Disease and stroke victims receiving help in rehabilitation. She notes that ASD is now at "epidemic" proportions in the United States.
The preliminary studies, by Professor Maja Matarić and PhD student David Feil-Seifer of the USC Interaction Laboratory, confirm what has been widely reported anecdotally: that ASD children in many cases interact more easily with mechanical devices than with humans.
Matarić and Feil-Seifer, both specialists in Socially Assisted Robotics (SAR), are now engaged in further research to confirm their findings, and to develop a robot "control architecture" which will tailor robot interactions to the specific needs of ASD children to help therapists treating their condition.
The initial study, reported in the June Conference on Interaction Design for Children with Special Needs in Chicago, tested whether interaction as opposed to simple passive observation was going on between ASD children and a colorful bubble-blowing wheeled robot.
The robot had two settings. In one, it carried on its rolling and bubble blowing on its own internal schedule, regardless of the behavior of the child. In the other, "when the child pushes a button, then the bubbles blow," in the words of the Chicago presentation.
The study watched the children and observed differences. "We found that the behavior of the robot affects the social behavior of a child (both human-human interaction and human-robot interaction): social behavior with a contingent robot was greater than with a random robot.
"Total speech went from 39.4 to 48.4 utterances, robot speech from 6.2 to 6.6 utterances, and parent speech from 17.8 to 33 utterances. Total robot interactions went from 43.42 to 55.31, with button pushes increasing from 14.69 to 21.87 and other robot interactions going from 24.11 to 28. Total directed interactions (interactions that were clearly directed at either the robot or the parent) went up from 62.75 to 89.47. Generally, when the robot was acting contingently, the child was more sociable."
While only four children were part of the initial study, Feil-Seifer and Matarić believe the work clearly demonstrates the ability of robots to actively engage with ASD children - "offer a doorway into their attention," Matarić says. A much more extensive follow-up with more subjects is already in progress, in collaboration with Los Angeles Childrens Hospital and the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange.
Two other presentations by Feil-Seifer and Matarić, at the 11th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics 2008 in Athens, Greece in July, 2008, and at the IEEE Proceedings of the International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, discuss these results in more detail, particularly in regard to the "Behavior-Based Behavior Intervention Architecture" (B3IA) they have developed to make the robots flexible and useful tools help ASD children.
This architecture (the system, including robotic and non-robotic components, plus provisions for recording and analyzing the proceedings) is based on an ASD therapy format called DIR/Floortime, in which a therapist shares floor with various toys used to try to engage the child.
Matarić and Feil-Seifer, in collaboration with Dr. Marian Williams from Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and Shri Narayanan from Viterbi School's Department of Electrical Engineering, are replacing toys with robots, both the rolling robots with horns and bubble blowers used in the initial results, and humanoid robots capable of smiles and other expression.
Behind the scenes, the architecture also includes an overhead video view that analyzes, documents, and stores every interaction, and a control system for the therapist operator that allows for switching between scenarios for interaction with the child, to concentrate on what works, and change what works to make it work better -- while still retaining a standard record-keeping and monitoring system used in ASD therapy.
Matarić has for years been working in the field of socially assisted robots to help a variety of other user populations, including patients with Alzheimer's Disease and stroke victims receiving help in rehabilitation. She notes that ASD is now at "epidemic" proportions in the United States.
Oshkosh schools gear up for robotics competition next year
Branson, a design engineer, spoke to the Oshkosh school board Wednesday night about his experiences with the FIRST Robotics competition, which will be established in Oshkosh in the 2008-09 school year. FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is aimed at piquing high school students' interest in science and technology.
The program will draw high school students from public and private schools within Oshkosh and connect them with mentors in the community with the goal of building a robot and competing against other community high school students from around the country.
Garth Larson, dean of students at Webster Stanley Middle School, refers to the program as a "varsity sport that is more of a mental sport."
"It challenges a team of students and mentors to build a robot," he said.
The program is scheduled to begin in January. Students will have six weeks to build a robot to send to a regional competition where the team will be judged based on the robot's design, team spirit, professionalism and maturity.
One robotics team will be established for the 2008-09 school year with the hope of going to two teams the following year.
The student participants will work with mentors from local businesses like Oshkosh Corp., CR Meyer, Triangle Manufacturing Co., Sadoff & Rudoy Industries, Blue Door Consulting, MarquipWard United and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
"When I came to Oshkosh two and a half years ago I was surprised that Oshkosh didn't have a program like this," Komal Mehta, of Triangle Manufacturing said. "This is a very exciting program."
Students from the Appleton area participate in the FIRST Robotics competition annually, which is where Branson had the opportunity to get involved as a high school student in 2000, he said. Students from Fond du Lac also participate.
The program will draw high school students from public and private schools within Oshkosh and connect them with mentors in the community with the goal of building a robot and competing against other community high school students from around the country.
Garth Larson, dean of students at Webster Stanley Middle School, refers to the program as a "varsity sport that is more of a mental sport."
"It challenges a team of students and mentors to build a robot," he said.
The program is scheduled to begin in January. Students will have six weeks to build a robot to send to a regional competition where the team will be judged based on the robot's design, team spirit, professionalism and maturity.
One robotics team will be established for the 2008-09 school year with the hope of going to two teams the following year.
The student participants will work with mentors from local businesses like Oshkosh Corp., CR Meyer, Triangle Manufacturing Co., Sadoff & Rudoy Industries, Blue Door Consulting, MarquipWard United and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
"When I came to Oshkosh two and a half years ago I was surprised that Oshkosh didn't have a program like this," Komal Mehta, of Triangle Manufacturing said. "This is a very exciting program."
Students from the Appleton area participate in the FIRST Robotics competition annually, which is where Branson had the opportunity to get involved as a high school student in 2000, he said. Students from Fond du Lac also participate.
LEGO camp gets local kids hooked on science
MERRIMACK – With the press of a button, Elan Brest's robot broke through a Lego wall at the beginning of an obstacle course, splitting bricks in half rather than just pushing the wall to one side.
The 9-year-old's creation continued toward a junk pile, which proved to be a tougher barrier for his small, motorized car. The car pushed the broken wall directly into the pile, stopping the robot's movement immediately.
"If the wall weren't there, it would be, like, 10 times easier," said Brest after his practice run.
Brest was one of 13 campers at this year's Lego Camp at Merrimack Middle School. The camp, designed to get kids 8-14 interested in science and engineering and expose them to the high school's robotics team, ran Monday-Friday.
Chop Shop, the Merrimack High School FIRST Robotics Team, uses the camp as a fundraiser to help raise part of the $4,000 fee each member must pay before the school year. The money covers the costs of materials, instruction and travel. Members serve as counselors for the camp, and help kids learn the software to program the Lego Mindstorms RCX robots.Although counselors help them along the way, campers were left to design, build and program their creations. Each robot had to pass through an obstacle course designed by the counselors, which consisted of tasks like traveling over a pile of Lego pieces and pushing a box through obstacles to the finish line.
"It's just a ton of fun to be able to do this and be able to see different minds solve the same task," said Alex Brunelle, a 17-year-old member of the Chop Shop team and Merrimack resident.
"That's pretty much the most fun I've been able to see with all the robotics stuff, even at the high-school level. When you set a task, and pretty much every team is going to come up with something different to solve each task. It's really cool to be able to look at an 8-year-old when you're 17 and go, 'Wow, I would've never thought of that.' "
Fran Leach, the camp director and a middle school science teacher in Derry, has been coaching Lego teams since the mid '90s, although she hasn't built a Mindstorms robot or learned the programming because she wants the kids to figure everything out on their own.
"I can truly say my kids do all the work, because I don't know how to do it," said Leach, who sets deadlines and oversees events during the camp, which was started in 2004. "They'll learn more by doing it own their own."
The camp is entirely hands-on, and at times, she said, she feels the camp could almost run itself.
"I have to make them stop for lunch," Leach said with a smile.
"They say, 'Oh, do we have to?' Even at lunch, 'Can we go back to the robots?' 'No, you've got 10 more minutes.' "
The kids were able to choose one partner to work on their robots. The computer program required for the robots doesn't take long to learn, Leach said, and the campers had a basic robot built and programmed by the end of the first day.
Nick Fernandes, a counselor and one the original members of the camp, said the hardest part for the kids is working together to discover a way to complete tasks, as they have to build their way from a basic program to a flexible system that allows for numerous changes.
"You have to program your robot initially to see what you can do with it, and then you make it more defined and detailed," said Fernandes, 15, of Merrimack.
"Trial and error – it's a lot of that."
Leach agreed the program forced the kids to evaluate their designs frequently, which she thinks provides a much-needed challenge.
"Life is too easy – you have to keep doing it," said Leach. "They think that they can just do something. They don't realize there's nothing wrong with trial-and-error.
The 9-year-old's creation continued toward a junk pile, which proved to be a tougher barrier for his small, motorized car. The car pushed the broken wall directly into the pile, stopping the robot's movement immediately.
"If the wall weren't there, it would be, like, 10 times easier," said Brest after his practice run.
Brest was one of 13 campers at this year's Lego Camp at Merrimack Middle School. The camp, designed to get kids 8-14 interested in science and engineering and expose them to the high school's robotics team, ran Monday-Friday.
Chop Shop, the Merrimack High School FIRST Robotics Team, uses the camp as a fundraiser to help raise part of the $4,000 fee each member must pay before the school year. The money covers the costs of materials, instruction and travel. Members serve as counselors for the camp, and help kids learn the software to program the Lego Mindstorms RCX robots.Although counselors help them along the way, campers were left to design, build and program their creations. Each robot had to pass through an obstacle course designed by the counselors, which consisted of tasks like traveling over a pile of Lego pieces and pushing a box through obstacles to the finish line.
"It's just a ton of fun to be able to do this and be able to see different minds solve the same task," said Alex Brunelle, a 17-year-old member of the Chop Shop team and Merrimack resident.
"That's pretty much the most fun I've been able to see with all the robotics stuff, even at the high-school level. When you set a task, and pretty much every team is going to come up with something different to solve each task. It's really cool to be able to look at an 8-year-old when you're 17 and go, 'Wow, I would've never thought of that.' "
Fran Leach, the camp director and a middle school science teacher in Derry, has been coaching Lego teams since the mid '90s, although she hasn't built a Mindstorms robot or learned the programming because she wants the kids to figure everything out on their own.
"I can truly say my kids do all the work, because I don't know how to do it," said Leach, who sets deadlines and oversees events during the camp, which was started in 2004. "They'll learn more by doing it own their own."
The camp is entirely hands-on, and at times, she said, she feels the camp could almost run itself.
"I have to make them stop for lunch," Leach said with a smile.
"They say, 'Oh, do we have to?' Even at lunch, 'Can we go back to the robots?' 'No, you've got 10 more minutes.' "
The kids were able to choose one partner to work on their robots. The computer program required for the robots doesn't take long to learn, Leach said, and the campers had a basic robot built and programmed by the end of the first day.
Nick Fernandes, a counselor and one the original members of the camp, said the hardest part for the kids is working together to discover a way to complete tasks, as they have to build their way from a basic program to a flexible system that allows for numerous changes.
"You have to program your robot initially to see what you can do with it, and then you make it more defined and detailed," said Fernandes, 15, of Merrimack.
"Trial and error – it's a lot of that."
Leach agreed the program forced the kids to evaluate their designs frequently, which she thinks provides a much-needed challenge.
"Life is too easy – you have to keep doing it," said Leach. "They think that they can just do something. They don't realize there's nothing wrong with trial-and-error.
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