Reaching the younger generations

Written by Stacie Gibson

At the end of 2020 a few of the YRTS facilitators made their way down to the Lilydale Lakeside Children’s centre to display some fun technology to the children. With some Thymios, puppy robots and a scary looking but friendly spider robot (Robotis bioloid) Shiv and Jason laid them out on the floor for the kids to see. Each class group sat eagerly on the carpet excited to see what the robots would do. Shiv raised his hands and let out a loud clap, the puppy robots reacted and so did the children. Shrill screams came from each of them as the puppies walked forwards and begged, they loved it. Their faces lit up as the puppy robots continued to move with each clap, changing directions, rolling over and lying down.

Jason set the Thymios to follow each other and they moved around the room making beeping noises when the children blocked their path. Some of the children set the thymios to race each other and enjoyed battling each other with the different modes.

But then the spider robot (Robotis bioloid) came out, there were mixed feelings as some found it cool while others were scared by the spiders movements. The eight legs strategically moved forwards and backwards as each of the children clapped. 

Later this year we look forward to the Children’s Centre bringing the children to the tech school, where we can show them even more of the technology we have. Giving each of the children the opportunity to discover the inspiring world of technology and what we can one day tech them when they come back as students when they’re older.