Robots and robotic technologies have an intellectual and emotional appeal that transcends any other type of engineered product, and this appeal is felt no more so than with children and young adults. Robots and robotic technologies represent a practical application of physics, computer science, engineering, and mathematics, and provide a very powerful and flexible approach to demonstrate a variety of engineering concepts. In addition, robotics appeals to a broad range of interests and allows multiple points of access to science, mathematics, and engineering for many types of learners. As a result, robotic technology and robots are being used by an increasing number of educators at the college level to reinforce computer science and engineering theory, and to teach basic software and mechanical engineering at the grammar school, middle school and high school levels. But perhaps most importantly for younger students, robots and robotic technology inculcate an interest in science and increase self-esteem, as well as teach basic life skills such as problem solving, decision making, goal setting and logical thinking.

Many education professionals are predicting that robotics will soon be taught in every elementary, middle and high school, along with most colleges, as a subject unto itself or as an educational enabler for other subjects. This presents many opportunities for those solution providers who have products and services that target the educational robotics market.

KEYNOTES

Inspire! - Using Robotics to Foster Educational Aims, Teach Life Skills and Promote Innovation
Dean Kamen
CEO, DEKA Research & Development Corporation and Founder, FIRST

In this exciting and inspirational keynote presentation, Dean Kamen, whose
engineering innovations have enriched lives and who has dedicated his efforts to helping young people see the value of education and careers in science and technology, will speak on the world’s unending need for waves of energetic and innovative scientists, mathematicians and engineers. He will also describe what led him to found FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization that helps young people discover the fun and excitement in science and technology through participation in robotic competitions.

The role of hands-on robotic development to inspire an interest in science
and increase self-esteem, as well as teach basic life skills such as collaborative problem solving, decision making, goal setting and logical thinking, will also be discussed.

As an inventor, entrepreneur and tireless advocate for science and technology, Dean Kamen has dedicated his life to developing technologies that help people lead better lives. He is president of DEKA Research and Development Corp., a company focused on developing radical new technologies that span a diverse set of applications including the Independence IBOT Mobility System, a battery-powered wheelchair capable of climbing stairs and raising users to eye-level, infusion devices such as the Hydroflex Irrigation Pump, the HomeChoice portable peritoneal dialysis machine for Baxter Healthcare Corporation and the Segway Human Transporter (HT). He is also chairman of Segway, LLC.

One of Dean Kamen's proudest accomplishments is the founding of FIRST in 1989, an organization dedicated to inspiring an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Kamen remains the driving force behind FIRST, recruiting American business, government, and education leaders to invest time and resources in the initiative. The FIRST Robotics Competition, a multinational program teaming professional engineers with high school students, attracts hundreds of teams to regional events and the Championship. The FIRST LEGO League, an international program created in a partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Company in 1998, engages middle school students in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design using LEGO MINDSTORMS^TM technologies to solve real-world challenges. In 2003, over 42,000 children participated in North America and 12 additional countries.

This talk explores issues related to the design of sociable robots from artistic, scientific, and technological perspectives. Specific research projects are highlighted to illustrate how robots with social capabilities are being applied to assist or entertain their human counterparts.

Cynthia Breazeal is an assistant professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab where she is director of the Robotic Life Group and holds the LG Group career development chair. She is a pioneer of the areas of human-robot interaction and sociable robotics, and leading in the scientific pursuit and technological innovation necessary to create machines that understand and engage people in social and affective terms. Kismet, her anthropomorphic robotic head, has been featured in international media and is the subject of her book Designing Sociable Robots, published by the MIT Press. She continues to develop anthropomorphic robots as part of her ongoing work of building artificial systems that learn from and interact with people in an intelligent, life-like, and sociable manner. Breazeal earned ScD and MS degrees at MIT in electrical engineering and computer science, and a BS in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The 5 Robotics Challenges for the Next 20 Years
Dr. François Pierrot, Director of Research, CNRS
Montpellier Laboratory of Computer Science, Robotics, and Microelectronics - LIRMM,
Co-founder & Chairman, Wany Robotics

The massive use of robotics to serve our human society will necessarily require the overcoming of great technological challenges, of which some of them are as important as the first steps of man on the moon. Certain Asian countries such as Japan and Korea have made robotics a national priority. Significant progress has also already been made in other countries, and the growing consumer robotics market will enable to fund the next steps and the next generations of robotic devices and services ever more efficient and useful to us humans. In this visionary Keynote presentation, Dr. François Pierrot details the 5 main robotic challenges for the next 20 years. Work to overcoming these 5 challenges will enable massive use of robotics in our lives and will be the next growth support for the main worldwide market players as well as creating new economy giants.

Dr. François Pierrot is Director of Research, by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Montpellier Laboratory of Computer Science, Robotics, and Microelectronics. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of Wany Robotics Corp, specialist in embedded low-cost robotics technologies applied to useful mass-market consumer robots. He is the inventor of the HEXA parallel robot already in use in the tooling machinery industry, and he received the Robotics Society of Japan Award for Innovation in 1995. He received the Best Paper Award at ISRAM 1992, Santa-Fe, New-Mexico, for his work on robust control of parallel robots.

Integrating Robotics into Educational Curricula
Kenneth Berry, Founder RoboEducators
Assistant Professor, California State University

Bio: For Dr. Berry's bio, click here.

NASA's Robotics Education Project
Alan N. Federman Ph.D, Senior Engineer, Raytheon ITSS Co. Ltd.

Since 1999, the NASA Robotics Education Project has striven to increase the number of individuals pursuing careers in robotics and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). This has been done by:

• Sponsoring student robotics contests such as FIRST and Botball,
• Sponsoring live, on-line distance learning courses that bring state of the art technology to the desktop,
• Interactive web-sites that bring robotics activities to the student,
• Creating a clearing house for robotics curriculum where reviewed products are made available to educators.

In this session attendees will hear how these efforts are beginning to bare fruit as the first high school students who experienced the program are graduating college and starting to return to NASA as contract employees.

Alan Federman has worked as a contractor for NASA for the last 9 years. During this time he has administered systems, been a web master, implemented streaming media architecture, written programs and generally had fun at the tax payer's expense. Since 1999 he has worked with the Robotics Education project. During this time three of the high school teams he's worked with have won National Championships or other high awards. He has served as a judge for Battlebots, a Referee for FIRST, and an MC for FIRST Lego League.

Robotics in the Classroom - Incubator for Future Innovators
Nola Garcia
Executive Director of Education, BattleBots IQ Inc.

Robotics in the classroom offers teachers the opportunity to bring together many different areas of study that students are introduced to from kindergarten through college. It also allows students the chance to realize their full potential, moving from possibility to reality through a hands-on process that uses their many skills as a human being including cooperative problem solving and critical thinking. Attend this session and learn how educators can apply robotics to expose talent, foster innovation, apply book learning and capitalize on innate enthusiasm of their students to engender a love of learning and realize their goals.

Education Through Entertainment – Cooperative Mobile Robots
Nanu Swamy
Founder and Director of Technology, RoboTech Center

Playing Tag, Hide and Seek, and soccer have entertained children for generations. Learning to program multiple robots to play these games provides youth with an engaging and entertaining challenge. In this session, attendees will learn how Cooperative Mobile Robots, groups of distributed autonomous agents that are capable of working cooperatively in complex environments, can be employed to transform traditional approaches of education – turning education into entertainment. Specific examples of programs introduced at RoboTech Center that have transformed participants into ardent robotic enthusiasts will be described.

For Nanu's bio, click here.