With the touch of a screen, Pepper, the robot, came to life.
Jentry Wetmore, 7, was there for it.
She started moving her hands like a musical conductor as soon as the 4-foot-tall robot began talking, playing music, and waving its plastic human-like arms, fingers, and hands. Eventually, the second grader broke into a dance right there in the library at Eastern Montgomery Elementary School in Elliston.
“It’s so fun,” Wetmore said after she slowed down to catch her breath. “I like robots.”
Her reaction matched many of the other students in the midst of a loud library scene on a recent Wednesday afternoon. Some sat on the floor trying to coax Aibo, a robot dog, to fetch a ball and walk towards them. Others experimented with oranges and a tomato that, when hooked up to a laptop, made different sounds at the touch.
There was lots of laughing, even squealing.
That’s actually the purpose of the program, which is meant to help students become familiar with the science, technology, engineering, arts, and math fields.
A team of Virginia Tech researchers is studying the ways that children process technical information while learning the fundamentals of robotics, such as controls and basic programming. But there’s more than just technology on the table.
At the end of the 13-week program, students perform a theatrical production for their families, using the robots as acting companions. The program, in partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia, includes sections that allow the students to act, dance, draw, and listen to music. A Halloween play is planned as the finale of this Eastern Montgomery experience.
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