Looking to the future

Building a robot army.

TEMbot at BigBangFair 2015

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths Robot – STEMBot emerged from work to promote STEM -Science Technology Engineering and Maths at the Crawley Big Bang Fair 2015.

Attempts to gather feedback from the 7300 attendees proved tricky, so I built STEMbot, a bright, noisy, attention grabbing sideshow piece that wrapped our previous demonstration (a makey makey) in something more flamboyant.

It worked, perhaps too well the feedback we gathered identified the STEMbot as the best thing at the show, and it was up against some really fancy stuff.

feedback

The plan is to redesign and remake STEMbot in a more robust frame, give away the plans and software under an open source licence, give away as many STEMbots as we can, and build a business case out of providing support.

STEMbot grabs attention and is perfect for:

  • sharing information or gathering feedback on induction days,
  • engaging the unengaged, where they are, perhaps the SU bar?
  • making technology more accessible in teaching and learning.

“I’ve seen the appeal of Rob’s robots first hand, working with him at “Big Bang” STEM events. Not only do they draw a crowd, but also provide an engaging and playful way to engage students in learning. Feedback shows that robots form a memorable part of a learning experience (for kids and adults alike!).”

Dr Katie Piatt SFHEA, University of Brighton, eLearning manager