A Children's Introduction to Robotics
By Ben Axelrod
Description
I made this 10 minute video to give kids a realistic notion of what
robots can and cannot do. (The robots in the movies are mostly
fantasy). I also wanted to show kids some of the exciting things going
on in robotics today. This will hopefully encourage the budding
scientists or engineers. Being interested in robotics for quite some
time, I have gathered a lot of really neat robot videos from the web.
I did my best to put some interesting and amazing things into this
video. Being a children's video, I do make some gross
oversimplifications. However, I also toss in a few big words for
them. I think most people should learn a thing or two. ;-)
I presented this video at the Tuscola Library to about 10 kids. I showed them one of my robots and we played a robot game. Here are some pictures from the event:
Disclaimer
I do not claim any ownership of these video clips. They are all
copyrighted property of their original creators. I am only
re-displaying them here for your enjoyment. I created my video under
the Free Use License. These clips are only to be used in educational
settings. If you feel I have misrepresented you or your robots in any
way, please contact me. Also please
contact me with any broken links.
Robot descriptions companion guide. This is a description of all the robots in this video in order of appearance.
Robot Video Repository
These are all the uncut clips from my video, and a few that didn't make it into the video. I arranged them roughly into the categories I used in the video.Wheeled Robots
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| nBot by David P. Anderson | uBot by UMass Amherst | Dartmouth Robotics Lab |
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| GOAT robot by CMU | NASA Mars Rover | Rotundus Listen
to a NPR broadcast about this robot |
BEAM robots
      |
| BEAM videos by Solarbotics |
Hexapod Robots (6 legs)
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| Asterisk robot by Osaka University's Arai Lab | LAURON III by Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica industrial |
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| Hex Crawler robot kit | RHEX |
Household Robots
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| Robomower by Friendly Robotics | Roomba by iRobot Listen
to a NPR broadcast about iRobot |
Industrial Robots
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| Various industrial robots by Fanuc Robotics |
The KHR1 Robot
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| KHR1 robot by Kondo (movies here) |
Micromouse Robots (maze solving robots)
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| Competition videos by Micromouse UK |
Modular Robots
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   |
| 4-module robot by Cornell University Listen
to a NPR broadcast about this robot Listen
to broadcast 2 |
Modular robots by Palo Alto Research Center |
  |
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| Snake robot by Dr. Gavin Miller | Cellular Automata by Dartmouth University | OmniTread by University of Michigan |
Team Robots
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| Ants robots by MIT |
  |
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| Team robots by University of South California | Distributed mapping by University of Washington |
The QRIO Robot
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| Sony QRIO |
Quadruped Robots (4 legs)
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| Fastest AIBO walk by UT Austin | Scout II by McGill University | Thing robot by UMass, Amherst | ? |
Biped Robots (2 legs)
  |
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| BIP robot by INRIA | RABBIT robot by Laboratoire d'Automatique de Grenoble |
   |
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| HONDA Asimo robot
(movies here) Listen
to a NPR broadcast about Asimo |
Toddler robot by MIT Listen
to a NPR broadcast about this robot |
Remote Control Robots
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| Robonaut by NASA | Robocup Rescue |
  |
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| Rescue robot by CMU | ? |
Robocup (robotic soccer competition)
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| Robocup Listen
to a NPR broadcast about robocup |
Insect Inspired Robots
   
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| Whegs, BILL-Ant, Cricket, and Cockroach by Case Western Reserve University |
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| Roach Coach
by University of California-Irvine Listen
to a NPR broadcast about CMU's robot receptionist |
Misc. Movies
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| Origami robot by Dartmouth University | ? Listen
to a NPR broadcast about CMU's robot receptionist |
Dexter by UMass, Amherst |
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  |
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| Lemur robot by Stanford University | Pow robot drummer by Georgia Tech | da Vinci Robot Surgery by USC Listen
to a NPR broadcast about the da Vinci system |
Robosapian Music Videos
Misc. Audio
Listen
to a NPR broadcast about the history and current developments of AIMy List of the best robot songs ever:
- Mr. Roboto - Styx
- Robot Trouble - Barcelona (Listen to it in this music video)
- Tiny Machines - Skavoovie & the Epitones
- Giant Robot-Birdhead - The Aquabats
- The Humans are Dead and Binary Solo - Flight of the Conchords
- Robot High School - My Robot Friend
- The Trons - A robot band
- The Bit-52's - The World's Greatest Robot Parts Band playing The B-52's Rock Lobster
- More to come! Send me your favorite robot songs.
I created my video with Ulead VideoStudio 9. It is a great program for home use. They give you a 30 day free trial and the software is not limited in any way. It is much more powerful than the Windows Movie Maker that comes with Windows XP. In keeping with my views on open source code, here is the VideoStudio project file. Maybe you can elaborate and expand the video. I would love to hear about it if you do.
To do in next version of video:
- Robot Surgery
- Robot ant, cricket, cockroach (Case Western)
- Rotundus
- MIT Toddler
- Passive walkers
- GT Pow