It can do ‘Suryanamaskars’ and effortlessly switch to ‘Tai Chi’, sing a birthday song and teach mathematics, and it is also vocal when it badly needs ‘rest’.
The two-feet tall humanoid ‘Nao’ robot from Germany, costing Rs. 22 lakh, was the centre of attraction at a children’s workshop organised by ‘EduRobo’, a city-based robotics training organisation. The participants, aged between 6 and 15 years, got a first hand experience in operating and observing this robot.
“The robot can be programmed by schoolchildren and we wanted them to get practical experience of robotics at a young age,” said S. Ravi Kiran, Managing Director, EduRobo. “In terms of technical advancement, robotics is the next big thing,” he added.
ADVERTISEMENT
Apart from ‘Nao’, 25 other robots are part of the workshop including industrial robot, miniminds, headbots, electronic tinybits and power blocks. They have been acquired from Japan, U.S., Germany and U.K. The training institute has also developed a miniature model of ‘Curiosity’, the spacecraft that was sent to explore Mars. This model can detect objects, take snaps and send photographs.