Robotics!: With 25 Science Projects for Kids

By Carmella Van Vleet and Tom Casteel

Where was the last time you saw a robot? Did you read about one in a book or see one in a movie? Maybe you saw one in a video game!

Some people think robots exist only in our imagination, but actually, robots are all around us right now. Robotics! With 25 Science Projects for Kids offers readers ages 7 to 10 an introduction to the history, mechanics, and future use of robots! Readers explore the history of robotics and discover how the first types looked and moved and what people expected they could do. Compare these early robots to those we have today, some of which don’t even have bodies! Kids discover how robots have changed as decades have passed and see how they now look, think, sense, move, and do things.

Robotics! also discusses all the amazing things robots do for us—help us around the house, go into and explore dangerous situations, build our cars and other products, assist during surgeries, and protect and entertain us. Learn all about early robots such as Unimate and Elmer and Elsie, and compare them to modern-day robots Robonaut 2 and ASIMO.

Robotics! includes 25 science-minded activities to engage budding scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and artists and help answer the questions, what exactly is a robot and where do they come from? Kids also discover how technology such as computers and other electronics of the last 50 or so years played an important role in the development of modern-day robotics. Requiring little adult supervision and using common, easy-to-find (and often recycled!) materials, kids experiment, play games, and explore components of robotics. They also build a variety of things such as their own automaton, a robot hand, and a replica of Robonaut 2. Combining hands-on fun with interesting facts, cartoons, and sidebars, Robotics provides young readers with a fun introduction to this fascinating and important field.

Robotics! is part of a set of two Explore Technology books that introduce young digital natives to the history, science, and engineering of the tech world in which we live, using hands-on STEM activities, essential questions, links to online primary sources and real-life connections. The other title in this series isSimple Machines!

Nomad Press books integrate content with participation. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad’s unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nomad Press
• Release date: Aug 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9781619308114

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CONTENTS

Timeline

Introduction

Robots Rule!

Chapter 1

The History of Robotics

Chapter 2

What Do Robots Look Like?

Chapter 3

How Do Robots Do Things?

Chapter 4

How Do Robots Sense Things?

Chapter 5

How Do Robots Think?

Glossary*Metric Conversions

Resources*Essential Questions*Index

Interested in primary sources? Look for this icon. Use a smartphone or tablet app to scan the QR code and explore more! Photos are also primary sources because a photograph takes a picture at the moment something happens.

You can find a list of URLs on the Resources page. If the QR code doesn’t work, try searching the internet with the Keyword Prompts to find other helpful sources.

KEYWORD PROMPTS

TIMELINE

AROUND 400 BCE:

Ancient Greek inventor Archytas of Tarentum builds an automata bird.

AROUND 1500 CE:

Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci designs a self-propelled cart, now considered to be one of the earliest robots.

BEGINNING IN 1615:

Japanese mechanical puppets called zashiki karakuri can serve tea.

1801:

Frenchman Joseph Jacquard invents the first programmable machine—a loom.

1822:

Inspired by Jacquard’s machine, mathematician Charles Babbage designs a mechanical calculator called the Analytical Engine.

1921:

The word robot is first used in a play by Czech writer Karel Capek.

1948:

William Grey Walter builds Elmer, a tortoise-like robot that can sense its surroundings.

1956:

Researcher Arthur Samuel writes a program that can play checkers.

1959:

The first industrial robot, Unimate, is used in a General Motors factory.

1986:

Honda begins working on ASIMO, an advanced humanoid that can walk, climb stairs, and recognize voice commands.

2000:

The da Vinci Surgical System is approved for use in operating rooms.

2002:

Roomba, the first popular home robotic vacuum cleaner, is sold by iRobot.

2004:

The Mars Exploration rover Spirit successfully lands on Mars.

2009:

Nanobots play soccer at the RoboCup competition, in a space the size of a grain of rice.

2011:

Robonaut 2 is launched into space to work alongside astronauts on the International Space Station.

2011:

A program called Watson plays and beats two champions on the trivia gameshow Jeopardy.

2014:

A computer passes the Turing test for the first time.

2017:

A robot in China performs the first dental surgery without any help from humans.

2018:

The Smithsonian museums launch a pilot program using robot guides.

INTRODUCTION

ROBOTS RULE!

Where was the last place you saw a robot? Did you read about one in a book? Or see one in a movie? Maybe you saw one in a video game. Sometimes, people think robots exist only in our imagination or as something that might be real in the future. But actually, robots are all around us right now!

A robot is a machine that can move and do tasks without help from a human. This means they can gather information from their environment, use that information to decide what to do or how to act, and then perform a task. Robots can sense, think, and act on their own.

WORDS TO KNOW

robot: a machine that can move and do tasks without help from a human.

WORDS TO KNOW

radio wave: a type of invisible wave used to transmit radio and television signals. Radio waves are also used for navigation.

sensor: something that allows a robot to see or sense its environment.

Look around you right now. Are there any machines that would fit this description of robot? What about your television? Hmm . . . let’s check. A television uses cables or picks up radio waves to play shows and movies. But it doesn’t do any physical tasks.

Maybe televisions of the future will be able to tell when you’re watching a movie and they’ll make popcorn!

Remote-control toys aren’t robots either, because they must be told what to do. What about one of those automatic vacuum cleaners? Yes! They are robots with sensors that allow them to sense or see their environment. They use that information to move around and do tasks, such as suck up dirt.

THIS ROBOT HELPS KEEP YOUR HOUSE CLEAN!

CREDIT: KARLIS DAMBRANS (CC BY 2.0)

WORDS TO KNOW

technology: the tools, methods, and systems used to solve a problem or do work.

engineering: the use of science, math, and creativity in the design and construction of things.

robotics: the science of designing, building, controlling, and operating robots.

DID YOU KNOW?

Many of the jobs involved in robotics are STEM jobs. STEM is an abbreviation for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. You might also hear it referred to as STEAM. The A in STEAM stands for Art and design.

Some people use the words robot and robotics