Meet robot teacher at new multi-million pound school in Bolt
Source: Saiqa Chaudhari,
TWO members of the “teaching” staff at Bolton’s new multi-million pound school are proving to be a huge hit with students as their robotic antics ensure they are prepared for tomorrow’s world.
The pair are always the centre of attention, whether in Bolton town centre or even at the glittering Bolton and Bury Business Awards where they almost overshadowed the winners.
Adam and Eve are 58cm-tall Nao robots at the University Technical College (UTC) Bolton and give students, and the rest of Bolton, a glimpse of what the future may be like.
The incredible machines have their own behavioural traits ― when Eve gets bored she breaks out into dance or conversation to entertain audiences.
But more importantly the £4,000 robots are designed to help young people to develop programming skills and their understanding of robotics for the school's specialism in health sciences and engineering technologies.
Dr Zubair Hanslot, CEO of UTC Bolton says that robots are an increasingly important part of the modern world ― and students working with them will get a real insight into how to control them.
Already robotics is being used and developed in medicine ― including on the operating table ― and has the potential to be used in the teaching profession, as well as much more.
Dr Hanslot said: “There is no escaping technology, particularly computer technology.
“The new computer science curriculum was introduced in 2014, which makes use of computer programming and coding to develop future proof skills.”
Dr Hanslot is taking the robots around primary schools to bring the new part of the curriculum alive for the pupils and they will also be used by younger children in a bid to stir an interest in science.
Pupils at UTC Bolton use the robots as part of their GCSE and A-level computer science studies by applying their maths and physics classes to explore the realities of computer programming. And the robots are even being studied at PhD level at the University of Bolton, which is on the same campus.
The Nao robots have facial recognition, and have the ability "remember" who they have encountered and where, walk and avoid obstacles, hold a storytime session, and show human like characteristics including sulking or singing while walking, making it hard to believe they are not real AIs ― artificial intelligence robots.
Everything has been programmed ― it took no longer than three hours to “teach” them to do the gangnam-style.
Dr Hanslot said: “They could be programmed to welcome visitors to shops or organisations and know if that person has an appointment and where to go."
He added said that robotics brought with it many benefits, such as improving artificial limbs for amputees.
He said: “Wherever we taken them people are interested to see them, people come up to me afterwards to find out more about them. After the Bolton and Bury Business Awards people came up and spoke to me, wanting to come and have a look around the UTC.
“This is the serious side to taking them out, we use them to raise educational aspirations in people and for them to engage in robotics.”
As for the world on the brink of developing “artificial intelligence” where machines learn for themselves, conjuring up images of the doomsday scenario reflected in the Hollywood blockbuster Terminator films, Dr Hanslot said: “I think Artificial Intelligence will be developed in 20 years, and when that breakthrough happens it will develop at some pace, this has to be treated in an ethical way we can secure it and we will remain in charge."
To cope with this ever-changing technological world, Dr Hanslot said that knowledge and creativity were key to people adapting and evolving as robotic technology develops.
He said: "Knowledge is power."
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