Schools Robot Olympics

In this grant we are setting up two `robot olympics' events in a formtargetted at children of secondary school age. In the first event wewill have a small (40cm tall) humanoid legged robot that is capable oftraversing a 5m long track, and coming to a stop without falling.Having explained some of the science behind that robot, we will invitethe children to build a Lego robot with wheels to do the same event.In the second event we turn the race into a hurdles race. Our leggedrobot can step over the hurdles, but the wheeled Lego robot will needlegs or tracks in order to suceed. This will enable us to explorewith the children a number of issues from the curriculum for Scienceand for ICT in a fun yet challenging way. For example: thedifficulties of making a robot walk well; how a simple wheeled robotcan find its way; and the importance of balance and stability inrunning the hurdles course.Variations on the scenario will allow us to explore the issues in amore public setting (e.g., science centres) or in a more targettedschool setting (i.e., with pupils of a specific age). We hope thatthe media might take an interest in this event, and by using aweb-site we hope to also build up a community of robot racers.

The primary expected impacts from this starter grant are as follows. Academic Impact The work on Q-Walking described is novel, but is being disseminated also through the usual academic channels. However this work will enable a more engaging demonstrator, which we will of course video and disseminate widely. Economic and societal impacts This grant will allow us to judge more accurately these impacts for both this work and any follow-on by engaging with the public. However we believe that the work will be attractive to a wide segment of society, and has the potential to attract significant media attention. In particular, it can show how legged robotic devices are coming of age, as well as linking in to the national curriculum for a targetted age group. Legged robots are expected to play a key role within homes and hospitals in the future, especially as social demongraphics shift towards a need to look after a larger elderly population. Being a starter grant, an outcome is for us to learn more about the likely outcomes of any follow-up work, so that may judge that appropriately.