PATTEN: My son and a robot named Dan
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a child in possession of a good imagination must be in want of a robot.
I have been obsessed with robots since I was a kid. My dad and one of his friends even helped me build one from Boys’ Life out of a wastebasket, radio-controlled truck, a Tupperware container and LEDs.
Click here to find out more about the Gismo 3.
The “robot” was 100 percent cosmetic, as the body simply replaced the truck’s chassis. But the day I brought it to my fifth-grade class was one of the best of my life. Not only was Gismo popular with the class, but it accompanied me on the playground at recess. It was pretty awesome to have a mechanical friend.
In junior high, we had to give an informative speech on any old topic, so I spent my time researching – what else? – robots! I talked about robots in movies, what makes a robot and whether robots are good for society.
And after that …
I did nothing. It was the mid-1990s. What could I do?
I was just a kid on a kid’s budget. My only programming experience was QBasic for MS-DOS. I assumed true robotics (with no remote-controlled trucks involved) meant taking apart one of the gigantic home computers of the era, figuring how to connect it to a portable power source, linking it to moving parts somehow and writing “rocket surgeon” code that was beyond my mere mortal ability to comprehend.
I know better now. And I am really jealous of my kids because cheap and easy solutions for having their own robot abound!
Nowadays the problem is dealing with the sheer number of options. Maybe you want to start with a robot kit. Check out Lego Mindstorms or countless other solutions. You can also assemble one from scratch using a tiny computer like an Arduino or Raspberry Pi. Best of all, if you want to build a robot, you have a lot of help online from videos to forums to blogs. Just search.
I do eventually want to build a robot with my kids, but when my son, James, turned 7, my wife and I decided to start him with a robot that was already built. We bought him a SmartLab Toys ReCon 6.0 Programmable Rover.
James had been wanting to build a robot for awhile, though he only had a vague idea of what a robot actually did. He knew robots are supposed to do tasks for people, and he envisioned one that would annoy his 9-year-old sister, Ella, on his behalf. This robot, which he named Dan, can play sounds, so it’s ideal for the job.
However, he decided he’d deliver a more positive message for his mom. Here’s a video of Dan in action:
James now realizes robots don’t magically do what you tell them to do. He can’t say, “Dan, go annoy my sister,” but he can tell it the steps to accomplish that. He has to measure the distance from his room to hers, tell it what direction and angle to turn, and record any custom sounds he wants Dan to play. He gives the robot instructions through pictographs and numbers:
(As for Ella, she has her own tech interests, which will be the subject for a future column. And fortunately, she’s been a good sport about Dan.)
The rover does have a few downsides. You have to position it perfectly straight or it will go off course – it might even try to go up a wall! Also, there’s not a stealth mode – everyone in the house can hear Dan whirring down the hall.
But as a “starter” robot, it’s ideal. I don’t know if James will be a professional roboticist, but the little rover is teaching him math and computing basics. He even asked me why we tell the robot to run when it actually doesn’t move that fast!
Learning and having fun don’t have to be opposites, and robots – with or without wastebaskets – are great for teaching that.
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