How can you teach a new generation about robotics and make it fun?  Six groups of students from the University of Bristol and the University of West of England have been working on this idea in the Studio for the last couple of terms and today they are presenting their ideas to companies such as BBC, IBM, HP, Microsoft and IPL and local universities.

The university students have been working with pupils from Nailsea School, who have been acting as stakeholders for the  products being developed.  The aim is to demystify robotic for children.

The pretty unique thing about the module, is that it brings together University of Bristol Computer Science MSc students and third year Product Design BSc students from UWE to combine their skills. And its been great having them in the studio to explore their ideas.

Kirsten Cater, Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bristol and one of the leaders on the project, said: “Back in the 1980’s the BBC Micro excited a generation of children into understanding the IT revolution and it is this generation that has been responsible for the UK’s success in the games industry.  Its accessibility, simplicity and popularity sparked the imagination of thousands to develop their own programs and games.

“Looking back these same inquisitive children would take a clock apart to study the mechanism inside and learn how it works. However today’s consumer
electronics aren’t so accessible.  An ability to see and understand how computers work has become obscured by their sophistication and children can only assume everything just works, like magic.  Robotics is a great field to get children interested in because there are so many options for further study and exploration.”