is about education.
FLL teams will be looking for ways to improve the learning process.
The Optibotz started out researching 3 areas:
What is the latest technology in education?
What alternatives are there to conventional learning?
What special needs are there in the learning population?
After extensive research we decided to focus on something that would actually address something in all three areas. We formulated our FLL World Class Question.
How could we improve the way a student who is absent, or cannot be in the classroom, learn in school?
The Double, from Double Robotics, is a telepresence robot with an iPad mount (for your iPad) on a telescoping stand on balancing wheels. It is controlled with an App used on an iPad or iPhone. The cost is $2,499, with a charging dock $299. Audio Kit $99, and Case $69 sold separately.
VGo, from VGo Communications, is like Skype® on a moving platform. However, they have their own technology for online communication; it is based on XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol.) It can hear, talk, and move as if the user was actually standing there. The picture quality and HD Screen along with the HD Sound system allows the user to experience actually being in a place while somewhere else. Originally developed for the business and medical community it is now being used in schools for students who cannot attend school for a long period of time or not at all due to medical reasons. In a school situation it can run for a full school day, up to 12 hours, before needing to be charged, and now has a computer or tablet device app that can control the VGo through Wi-Fi. This allows the user to control the robot’s movements and eve take pictures of the environment it is in. The robot costs $5,995, with additional subscriptions of about $100 a month.
Our team’s research is about a robot that could sit in, “substitute” for a student, if he or she is absent for a long period of time. The robot might also allow home-schooled students who wish to take particular courses at a public or private school, or allow special needs students to sit in on classes from their own classroom. There have been robots that can possibly do this such as, Telbotics - PEBBLES (Providing Education By Bringing Learning Environments to Students) by IBM back in 2006 and currently the Double by Double Robotics and the VGo by VGo Communications.
Basically, the PEBBLES robot was designed to allow students to participate in class, keep socially interacted with classmates and teachers, and keep up with the classwork and homework. Two PEBBLES robots are needed; one with the student, one at his/her school. With the PEBBLES robot, the student can turn the robot’s head so it faces the board or a student, and raise the robot’s “hand.” The PEBBLES robot is generally used in England and Canada.
The Double, from Double Robotics, is a telepresence robot with an iPad mount (for your iPad) on a telescoping stand on balancing wheels. It is controlled with an App used on an iPad or iPhone. The cost is $2,499, with a charging dock $299. Audio Kit $99, and Case $69 sold separately. VGo, from VGo Communications, is like Skype® on a moving platform. However, they have their own technology for online communication; it is based on XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol.) It can hear, talk, and move as if the user was actually standing there. The picture quality and HD Screen along with the HD Sound system allows the user to experience actually being in a place while somewhere else. Originally developed for the business and medical community it is now being used in schools for students who cannot attend school for a long period of time or not at all due to medical reasons. In a school situation it can run for a full school day, up to 12 hours, before needing to be charged, and now has a computer or tablet device app that can control the VGo through Wi-Fi. This allows the user to control the robot’s movements and eve take pictures of the environment it is in. The robot costs $5,995, with additional subscriptions of about $100 a month. 
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