Robotic Theater at Copernicus Science Centre, Warsaw

At the brand new Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw Polen, three robotic actors are ready for the grand opening on Friday 5th November. The RoboThespians will be performing two scientifically-themed plays in both Polish and English within a purpose built theatre. One play is based on the short story “Prince Ferrix and the Princess Crystal” by Stanislaw Lem. 
Below is a preview of the Robotic Theatre – Teatru Robotycznego.




The fully programmable humanoid robots are developed by UK company Engineered Arts Ltd. specialised in the design and build of imaginative, interactive exhibitions, audio visual and mixed media installations. RoboThespian™ robot actors, which are installed in science museums and public venues around the world have  three major applications: to meet and greet visitors, to interact with the public, and to perform. At the Shanghai Expo 2010, "Jack" the RoboThespian greeted visitors as they walked through the Macau Pavilion exhibition area. At the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh "Andy Roid" the RoboThespian greets visitors entering the roboworld exhibition. 

How will we work and play with Robots & Avatars in 10-15 years?

Robots and Avatars is an innovative programme in the UK developed by body>data>space with key partner NESTA. It is designed to explore how young people will work and play with new representational forms of virtual and physical life in 10-15 years time. It examines multi-identity evolutions of today’s younger generations within the context of a world in which virtual and physical spaces are increasingly blended. Robots and Avatars are producing a series of vodcasts which are available to view on their site. They explore the themes of the programme, including Artifical Intelligence, Behaviours and Ethics, Health and Wellbeing and the Future Workplace from the perspective of a diverse array of professionals and experts, who share their expertise and insight in this series of interviews.innovation experts are exploring

Robots and Avatars Vodcast #1 from body>data>space on Vimeo.

New CMU Robotic Systems Development Master´s Program

Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute is offering a new master's degree program in robotic systems development that will provide beginning and early-entry practicing professionals with the multidisciplinary skills and know-how needed to succeed in industry. Graduates of this program will be capable of operating at a higher technical/managerial level within a company, making them extremely desirable job candidates.
Hagen Schempf, a principal systems scientist in the Robotics Institute, is director of the new master's degree program. According to Schempf the master's degree in robotic systems development (MRSD) will be useful for anyone who seeks to be a high-tech manager, regardless of whether that position is in the robotics or automation fields.


The degree program, which will begin in fall 2011, includes two full-time semesters on campus followed by a seven-month internship with an affiliated industrial partner active in robotics or automation markets. The curriculum includes instruction in the broad array of robotic sciences and technologies, hands-on project courses and seminar-style business and management courses. 


For further details on the program, please visit http://www.ri.cmu.edu/MRSD.  

VIBOT - New European Master´s Program in Vision and Robotics

The European Master´s in Vision and Robotics - VIBOT - aims to provide qualifications for entry into the professions in the area of robotics, computer vision, image processing and medical imaging either in public laboratory or private research company. 
Over 4 semesters (120 ECTS), the students attend three universities, where all the classes will be taught in English. An introduction to Scottish, Spanish and French culture and language will be proposed to the students.
The student population will be between 30 and 40 per year. The average ratio professor/student relation is approximately 1:5.

The  (VIBOT) is a collaboration between the Université de Bourgogne (Le Creusot, France), the Universitat de Girona(Girona, Spain) and Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, Scotland).  
Official Project Summary download.

Cultural Acceptability for Educational Robots

Reseachers at the Cheongju National Univ. of Education in Chungbuk, South Korea have compared the cultural acceptability for Educational Robots between Korea and Europe (Spain). Their findings, pubished in the Journal of Information Processing Systems, Vol.4, No.3, September 2008, are that Spains are much more rigid in their thinking on robots and especially have a negative view on robots as peers since they regard robots as labor machines. Recently, Korea invented several educational robots as peer tutors. Korean parents have a strong tendency to see robots as 'the friend of children,' while on the other hand, European parents tend to see educational robots as 'machines or electronics'. Meanwhile, the expectation of children on educational robots showing identification content was higher in Europe than in Korea since European children are familiar with costume parties. This result implies that the Korean market for educational robots is earlier than the European market, but European children will be eager to play with educational robots even though their parents have a negative view of them.

USA preparing next generation for the "Robotics Age"

The Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon University has published a short video that shows the exponential change that those of us over 40 have experienced in our professional lives, as we've moved to personal computers, the Internet and now to robots, in the span of less than thirty years. Robots are here to stay! Are we ready? Watch the video here.

New edutainment robot from LEGO

LEGO Education, The LEGO Group’s educational division announced a new robot product, WeDo, that redefines classroom robotics, making it possible for primary school students 7 to 11 years of age to build and program their own solutions. Bridging the physical world, represented by LEGO models, and the virtual world, represented by computers and programming software, WeDo provides a hands-on, minds-on learning experience that actively involves young students in their own learning process and promotes children’s creative thinking, teamwork and problem solving skills – skills that are essential in the workplace of the 21st century. The new product will be available in the United States and Brazil beginning January 1, 2009.

The complete LEGO WeDo package includes:

• 158 brightly colored LEGO elements, including gears, and levers
• One LEGO USB Hub connects directly to a Mac/PC laptop, desktop, OLPC XO or Intel Classmate computer to allow control of hardware input (tilt and motion sensors) and output (motor), thereby bringing models to life
• One motor, one motion sensor and one tilt sensor
• Drag-and-drop icon-based software that provides an intuitive and easy-to-use programming environment suitable for beginners and experienced users alike, developed by a leading provider of engineering hardware and software, National Instruments
• Activity pack CD-Rom provides up to 24 hours of instruction and includes 12 activities based on four themes: Amazing Mechanisms, Wild Animals, Play Soccer and Adventure Stories. Running alongside programming software, activities are introduced via animations. Teacher notes and glossary are also included.