Lower Hudson Regional Information Center Takes Robots Out on School Visits

The Lower Hudson Regional Information Center’s Model Schools Department in Harrison is showcasing the fascinating world of robotics to students in area schools with the help of two friendly humanoids.

Nicknamed “Relay” and “Grace” by department staffers, the robots, which are officially called “NAO” robots by their developers, are being taken on a road tour to various Westchester, Putnam and Rockland County school districts.

The initiative is part of an effort by the LHRIC to support schools and districts as they investigate and implement various robotics kits and curricula.

Designed with the K-8 teacher in mind, instructors, when trained, can teach students the engineering and design process that is involved in programming robots, an increasingly popular addition to K-12 curriculums throughout the nation.

During a recent visit to Eastview Middle School in the White Plains School District, students in Laura Frauenberg’s sixth-grade class were eager to learn how to program Relay.

To help the students understand how a robot works and to differentiate between a robot and a toy, the LHRIC’s team explained that Relay, a 20-inch prototype, is an example of a much larger robot.

The idea, they said, is to test out specific functions on the smaller model and then transfer them to a bigger robot.

Made by French company Aldebaran, the robots are currently being used in the general education and research sectors, although they were originally designed for use with autistic children.

Students, grouped in pairs, were asked to program Relay to perform various functions using Choregraphe, the graphic programming software that comes with the robot.

They were then challenged to program Relay to perform simple “search and rescue” behaviors.

“We were so excited to have Relay come visit us,” said Ms. Frauenberg. “It gives our students the chance to think creatively while developing the higher-level thinking skills necessary to succeed in other content areas.”

Prior to the roadshow, the LHRIC scheduled a number of “play dates” with local educators in its Active Learning Center located at the LHRIC’s offices in Harrison.

Educators learned how to create robots using cubelets, which are easy-to-use magnetic blocks that snap together to make robots, the Blockly app for “Dash and Dot” robots, as well as ways to program the other NAO robot, affectionately called “Grace.”

Additional robotics play dates are being scheduled between now and June, and will appear in the summer catalog, to be published in April. For more information, visit the LHRIC’s robotics website at:

https://sites.google.com/a/lhric.org/robotics/calendar-of-events.