NAO Meets 1st Newquay Cubs

12/12/2016

NAO Robot promises to 'Do his best'...

It was kept a surprise from the cubs and they were totally awe-struck when they walked into the room and saw 'Toby' our NAO robot lying down on the floor. What was this odd, robot shaped lump of plastic?  Some were curious, some were excited, some were a little wary, some had never seen a robot this close before.

Education Director, Andy Trish, led the workshop by introducing Toby, and the children watched intently as the robot started to come to life before them.  Open mouths, gasps in wonder and disbelief as Toby spoke to them and waved hello.  They were captivated! Talking to the robot initially like a child visitor, they were addressing him in person. 

"Toby, can you sing?", "Toby, can you play football?", of course the answer is, Yes! He can do all those things and so much more.

Standing only 58cm tall, the clever, cute and vivacious little bot has fantastic human characteristics; even appearing to breathe and display emotions.  The cubs warmed to him immediately. When Toby addressed them, they answered, when Toby danced, they copied - he was influencing their behaviour, engaging with them and teaching them new things.

It is no wonder that NAO robots are being used by so many schools, across the curriculum and at all Key Stages to support teaching and learning.  They are also particularly effective at engaging children with special educational needs - particulary autism - as they are non-threatening, and lessons can be controlled and adapted easily as the child engages.

Bringing the robot to life!

The cubs were able to further experience the robot by closely exploring his mechanisms and programming him with the simple to use 'Choreographie' software.  Data flow diagrams can be created with drag and drop techniques to form links between actions and typed text.  Even the youngest cubs could program NAO then click 'run' and watch NAO come alive; moving and talking just as they had created.  Amazingly empowering!  They also had the chance to make paper toy robots plus, we ran a brainstorming session on how we use robots with some fantastic questions, comments and drawings emerging - see for yourself below:

Book your Robotics workshop today and discover NAO!

For the lowdown on our fantastic 'Introduction to Robotics' workshops please click: NAO ROBOTICS WORKSHOP

The 1hr workshop for up to 33 pupils is offered for FREE to our client schools and at a small cost for others.

The robots can also be purchased for use throughout the school and many of our schools have discovered brilliant advances in teaching and learning as a result.  Check out NAO Robots at Sir James Smith's School

Plus, lots more info. about NAO robots at: all about NAO

Call our Robot team for further information on 01326 379 497.

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