| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/R78510/01 |
| Title: |
PPA: Rowdy Robots: creative explorations in science and engineering for all the family |
| Principal Investigator: |
Sharkey, Professor N |
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| Department: |
Computer Science |
| Organisation: |
University of Sheffield |
| Scheme: |
PPE PreFEC |
| Starts: |
01 April 2002 |
Ends: |
30 September 2002 |
Value (£): |
30,165
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Curiosity, creativity, exploration, and fun are not words that the general public normally associate with scientific and engineering research, yet these are some of the major reasons why we do it. Our aim is to engage families in creative interaction with science, engineering and technology by exploiting the current public enthusiasm for robot competitions and robot construction. The project would be delivered in a series of one-day family workshops at Kelham Island Industrial museum, supported by evening Clubs for enthusiastic children. The objective of each workshop is for families to construct autonomous mobile robots to participate in challenges such as avoid shadows, find a light, follow a light, or chase another robot.Our emphasis is on fostering the curiosity of families to continue exploring the ideas in the home. For this reason, only low cost household materials and tools are used to construct the Rowdy Robots. These are based on the Bugster - a simple motorised vehicle made from, cardboard, paper, cotton spools, sticky tape, elastic bands and motors - that has been tried and tested by over 4000 people at Bugster Rallies and family activity days at Kelham Island museum as well as 2000 children in schools. In the pilot phase we will-produce a simple and cheap electronics module and kit for sensing and control to develop an autonomous robot with surprisingly interesting behaviours.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.shef.ac.uk |