Abstract
Can children and adults learn anything from building robots? In 2001 we ran a robot design competition with the BBC TelevisionBlue Peter, program. Some 32 000 children, aged between 5 and 16 years, submitted paper designs. We built prototypes of the four winners' robots for a Robot Design MasterClass at the London Science Museum. It is widely believed that across the curriculum, robotics is a powerful force in motivating education. We ask what the children learned from the robot design process. Our answer is that they learned many things, both inside and outside the science and technology curriculum.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
McGeer T (1993) Dynamics and control of bipedal locomotion. J Theor Biol 163:277–314
Garner SW (1994) The importance of graphic modelling in design activity. In Banks F (ed) Teaching technology. Routledge, London, p 68–73
Gero JS (1990) Design prototypes: a knowledge representation schema for design. AI Mag 11(4):26–36
Adams RS, Atman CJ (1999) Cognitive processes in iterative designer behaviour. Proceedings of the 29th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 1999
Cross N, Christiaans H, Dorst K (1996) Analysing design activity. Wiley
Gero S, Tang H-H (2001) The differences between retrospective and concurrent protocols in revealing the process-oriented aspects of the design process. Design Stud 22:283–295
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Johnson, J., Hirst, A. & Garner, S. Learning from designing the RoboFesta—Blue Peter robots. Artif Life Robotics 7, 22–27 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02480881
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02480881