EPFL robots will soon appear in school classrooms

EPFL scientists have developed an educational robot designed to introduce children to technology in schools. Baptized Thymio II, it was officially presented to teachers in the Canton of Vaud last friday. Creating an original pedagogical tool to get students interested in technology and robotics: this is the challenge that was undertaken by a group of the researchers led by Fancesco Mondada, in EPFL's Robotics Systems Laboratory. In collaboration with the University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL), they developed Thymio II, a little programmable white robot, jam-packed with sensors and LEDs, that can exhibit a wide range of behaviours. "We worked really hard on the hardware," Mondada explains. "Each sensor is associated with a coloured LED, which allows the kids to visualize the activation of the sensors during a specific manoeuver." The Thymio II robots, which made their debut in May during EPFL's robotics festival, has been presented to teachers on November 25, as part of a course organized by the cantonal teacher's college (HEP). Explorer, coward, investigator, friend - The 11 cm x 11 cm robot is equipped with proximity sensors (it can detect close objects), ground-directed sensors (it can detect the edge of a table around which it's circulating, or a line to follow), accelerometers (It can measure acceleration, detect impacts and indicate gravity), a microphone and a temperature sensor (an electronic thermometer).