The junkbot project moved to Moulton School & Science Academy, and working with eighteen Year 7 students and their teacher Desmond O'Niell, looking at issues relating to waste management and also using engineering and computing principles. Examples of the the robots produced and the level of creativity can be seen below:
Some creative ideas are demonstrated using cans and motors with eccentric cams either as a source of vibration or as wheels, and all used the principle of control similar to tank tracks (control one side then the other) to direct the robots. Also the students were encouraged to consider form over function (and especially the weight will have an effect on the effectiveness of the solution). Two groups actually developed solutions that could move a drinks can but also small parts into a specified area.
This was taken from the first part of the project and I would like to thank Mr O'Niell for inviting us in and also for the suggestions of the future direction to take this and possible other related project, including a future robot project. This project is about developing cross-disciplinary (Computing/ICT/Design) material using the Matrix Multimedia robot that could be used at several years, revolving around robot programming is especially interesting for under a £1000 you can have ten robots that can be added to relatively easily, be programmed in a simple specially written language or in more widely and industrially used langauges such as C.
As personal point of view I think robots are a great teaching tool for developing engineering and computing skills, as well engaging people with STEM subjects (hence the junkbot project and my own research). We are also especially lucky in Northamptonshire to have two leading companies in automation and robotics Festo and ABB having a presence in or near Northampton.
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