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Sunday, February 5, 2012

Never to young to enjoy Robotics!


By: Dr. Tom Macon, Ph. D.

My students often ask me, "Dr. Macon, how old does a child have to be to get involved in robotics?"

My answer is expressed in terms of my experience with my granddaughter Katie. Over the years, I have received hundreds of robots as gifts from students and peers. Most are small toy-sized units.  Katie was about 19 months old when she began coming into my office at school and claiming my miniature robots as her own.

I found her actions most interesting. It was not something I encouraged or discouraged. It just happened naturally. So being of a scientific mind, I decided not to intervene and simply observe.

Over a period of 6 months, she had collected 25 or so of her favorite robots and hidden them in secret places throughout her room and house.

When she was about 2 1/2 years old, she would close her door and retrieve her hidden robotic friends and play. If you opened the door, she would grasp a handful of her comrades and protect them from anticipated retrieval. Some were life-like and others were simple prototype animatronic skeletons. She adored them equally.



I always wondered what went on in her secret robotic tea parties. One of my trusted mini-bots was equipped with a black and white spy-cam setup. I turned it on and got this beautiful picture of Katie playing quietly with her robot friends. They were a rag-tag bunch. Her favorite one is the one to the left of the picture. She calls him, "Super-Mega". A close runner up is her Roomba Robotic Sweeper by iRobot!

So I am not sure what age children should be to become interested in robotics. Outside of concerns for small parts which might present a choking hazard, or moving parts that could pinch a little child's fingers; maybe somewhere around 2 or 3 would be a good age to expose them to robots as friends. I say this because of Katie and out of wonder for what her future might hold if she embraces technology like this at such an early age. Life is full of wonders, both natural and man-made.

If you are interested in some sources for robotic kits for children, try a few of these suggestions:

http://www.machinescience.org/store/home.php
http://www.electronickits.com/robot/robot.htm?gclid=CJac95aAiK4CFdQAQAodZVBC6g
http://www.lynxmotion.com/




17 comments:

  1. Karina Holtz-Stemper17:23

    Now that was cool. Way to go Katie! You are the youngest robot enthusiast I have ever heard of!

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  2. Tam Nida09:26

    Dr. Macon, Katie is so cute. I remember holding her as a newborn when I was in your class for Advanced Robotics. I can hardly believe how big she is.

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  3. Dr. Macon, I love your story about Katie and her interest in robots. I think your site often covers robotics for older kids, so I wanted to mention Lego and their MindStorm product line.

    I think Lego is perfect because children quickly adapt to its ease of modular block construction. Children have been building pretend robots with their plastic Lego bricks for decades. When Lego teamed up with the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and developed Mindstorms, they went from toy to learning lab!

    Many schools use the MindStorm kits and even hold robot competitions.
    Unlike the $3,500 Bioloid Expert kit you show above, the Lego product is very affordable.

    Please keep up the good work. I like it better when you share your personal experiences with us.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dougie09:58

    I like the Bioloid. I know the kit is major bucks, but it is well worth it.

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  5. Ziggy L.19:23

    Dr. Macon, breakdown and buy Katie a Bioloid Robot... it is an investment in her future. And the experience will give her a jump start on a college level education. After all, you do want her to pass your Robotic Sciences Class don't you?

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  6. Anonymous08:46

    The baby robot kind of creeps me out!

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  7. Can you imagine if robots could really have babies like humans? That would be so way crazy. Was Dr. Macon showing it to freak us out or to imply that this was Katie at birth? Now that would be freaky!

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  8. Robert07:02

    Hey Dale, Robert here. We were in Dr. Macon's class together in 2009. I was the one that brought in the Lego MindStorm project that I had modified to work with my smart phone. Do you remember me?

    Anyway, after graduation, I went on to work for a Chinese firm. I am stateside on vacation, so look me up if you want to hang out. Also, if you are still interested in work outside of US, we might be hiring later this year.

    You can reach me at my Mom's house... same number for last 50 years!

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  9. Toby Wright23:48

    Dr. Macon, who made that baby robot, and why did they make it? Was it for a toy company?

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  10. Alex Kashiwagi22:16

    This automated baby is pretty cool stuff. It could go a long way into science, as far as understanding baby's and why they do certain things.

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  11. Charles Olsen22:17

    Robotics are a good thing for people to study! they can help us with things we would like done or things we would like to know. :)

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  12. Valburga Tapia Ayala22:46

    Kaite is so cute <3

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  13. Anonymous18:05

    Does the baby robot crap batteries?

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  14. Cindy Elastein20:43

    No, it wears solar diapers!

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  15. Terri12:00

    Katie is so cute. Dr. Macon, I haven't seen her since your son brought her by your class in July of 2010 to visit and show off her new dress. Wow... she is so big now. I'm sure she will be pursuing robotics as a career!

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  16. The bioloid robot kit is simply amazing. I love it!

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  17. I think it's important for kids to play with robots and learn about the differerent types of technology which is available. I am a school teacher and I'm always on the look out for something that will help with learning new ways and strategies etc. I have bought a few Lego kits from active-robots.com/education- kids love this. Lego and robots together! Learning and playing is the best way to teach kids about technology.

    ReplyDelete