Researchers Use Legos to Manufacture Artificial Bones:
The tedious process of building up a sample of artificial bone requires a lot of repetitive dipping of samples into various substances, rinsing, and repeating. So to automate sample creation, the researchers built a couple of inexpensive laboratory robots using Lego Mindstorms.
The robots… handle the sample creation duties, freeing up the human researchers to focus on other laboratory tasks. Which is pretty clever.
Lego, for its part, sees an expanding role for itself in the laboratory and in education in general. The company has teamed up with Google for the 2012 Google Science Fair, which is a pretty cool initiative that encourages kids 13 to 18 to solve answer any question that’s been bothering them any which way they can.
(via Video: Cambridge Researchers Use Legos to Build Artificial Bone in the Lab | Popular Science)
Kids Want Robot Teachers, Says Lego-Funded Study:
The survey was built around asking 350 “kid-innovators” aged eight to 12 how things would change if robots were part of their everyday lives. The results indicate that children have a very human view of robots.
Instead of machines that get tasks done for them, these digital natives see robots as ideal humans, able to help them at various tasks and make them feel comfortable socially.
“Robots are better versions of our teachers and parents, offering limitless time and patience, encouraging confidence and self-direction, and allowing us to make mistakes sans self-consciousness,” according to the study.
In addition, the study’s authors argue that robots can help remove any social stigma related learning at school. Perhaps the most common type of robot used today for education is Lego’s Mindstorm which teaches children how to program the device’s sensors and motion. The pictures students in the study drew were commonly of humanoid robots that act as companions to children’s daily lives, alternating between play companion and homework helper.
(via Reading, writing, arithmetic, and…robots? | Cutting Edge - CNET News)
