Thrilling New Technology For Harley Bonds Students

Students at J. Harley Bonds Career Center will have the opportunity to learn STEM concepts from a very interesting teacher.

Meet NAO, pronounced Now, a humanoid robot. He sings, he dances and he also teaches. At only two feet tall, he commands attention as he sees, hears talks and interacts with those around him. 

The robot will be instrumental in helping instructors to teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics in a new way. 

Using computer programming, networking and animation skills, students at the career center will be able to use NAO as an educational tool and test their skills.

Robert Stokes, owner of Stokes Educational Services, developed the curriculum for NAO. He said this state-of-the-art robot requires the same programming as those used in industry.

"They will program the 25 degrees of movement for NAO," Stokes said. "They can program him to dance to their favorite song, to teach a lesson to special needs children, or to read a book and ask questions about a story with younger children."

Stokes pushes a button on NAO and simply says "Star Wars." Immediately, NAO begins telling the story, "In a galaxy far, far away..." As he tells the story, he's animated. He breaths like Darth Vader and waves an imaginary lightsaber. When defeated, he slumps to his knees. 

A few minutes later, he dances to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," (see attached video), but he also knows "Gangnam Style."

Stokes said he can give correct feedback, he can retell a story and can also tell when someone is looking at him.

"One of the pieces of our curriculum is to teach a lesson on Martin Luther King," Stokes said. "Students will write the program, download part of the 'I Have a Dream,' speech and he will present it in King's voice."

Stokes said it's a fun and engaging way to learn robotics.

"This is the most advanced humanoid robot in the world," Stokes said.

The programming will require students to write a script to tell a story, to use mathematics to calculate movements and then be able to input that information into the robot technology. Teachers believe NAO will be a big hit in the classroom.

"They'll be able to open up the code, understand what it is and then tweak the code to make him do something else," said Lisa Holcomb, who teaches programming at the school. "They have to think about weights and pivots and degrees, so that they know 'How far can I go before he falls?' Then, they have to write a script for it. It really encourages their creativity."

Holcomb, who also teaches animation, said she has been impressed with the creativity her students have shown in classes.

"The robot will only add to that experience," Holcomb said.

Holcomb said that an after-school programming club will be the first group to use the new technology. She said that they will begin implementing the use of the robot technology in the classroom next year.