The art of robotics

Sometimes, robots need only be there to provoke a response.

This latest installation at the Tate Modern's new underground space, shows smart interaction using kinect sensors and a huge industrial robot.

Scary, beautiful and fun.

First steps...

Learning to code should be taught from an early age, but it isn't. Instead, our current generation of youngsters are shown how to use software that will be gone by the time they graduate.

When we learn to cook, we don't do so by eating. When we learn to write, we don't do just by reading. Computers are a tool that dominates modern life and to ignore them in our curriculum is naive in the extreme. However, for those that have the get up and go, there are a number of ways to introduce programming to fresh faces, young or old.

Here are some of my favorites.

Processing, and it's cousin, the Arduino Development Platform)

Lego NXT and it's predecessor, the RCX.

Scratch (and its NXT link through Enchanting)

BlueJ, and Greenfoot

iTunesU

Codeacademy

Khan Academy

While we're on the subject of the undersea operations, I was researching projects recently for a group of youngsters to have a crack at, and this one really took my fancy. It will take a bit of research to see how I can replicate some of the pieces with UK suppliers, but it looks like a lot of fun.

www.seaperch.org

The wonderful site has detailed instructions and videos, and in depth sourcing information. There's something about water that really appeals to some children, a sense of adventure that might just have a touch more allure than bumping off walls (although I hope plans for bumping off each other's robots will be exciting enough for now...)

It strikes me as an ideal arduino control candidate too for future tinkering. Time to scour the skips for pvc piping and old noodles :-)

What lurks beneath

The presence of mines underneath the water has driven the training of marine mammals by navies. The job is one that is an obvious choice for a robotic proxy, but there are many problems. This article on the economist's Babbage blog makes for interesting reading on the pitfalls of sensing and navigating under water.

It seems we have a little way to go before precision undersea robotics becomes autonomous...

Now you see me

These rubbery robots show just how far thinking about robotic form has come. I am sometimes surprised that these things haven't happened before, but many of these advances come to fruition with the development of new technologies and materials. 

A parallel frontier is opening with the development of synthetic tissues to create movement. It is only a matter of time before we move from servos and actuators to biologically analogous materials. 

Robots of all types would of course benefit from new motion technologies, but we mustn't forget that wheels and rotors are still very much the preserve of the made world and jolly useful they are too.

17 and flying...

This project tells me that our next generation scientists have a great future ahead of them! Incredible application and innovation - and not even out of school. Well done Brittany.

Ping.

A fantastic example of where autonomous robotics helps us in those hard to reach environments.

Autosub scans the depths

Time to learn Python? Or buy a raspberry pi?

This flypig.co.uk post is great fun. Makes me think about python as an alternative to the java/processing/wiring path I'm on...