Schools Robot Olympics

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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.