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March 7, 2005 Vol. 76, no.
8S
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| REPORTING
LIVE FROM THE FIELD: A Fremont sixth-grader
asks researcher Travis Pynn about the robot helicopter behind them.
The student was part of a class touring the robot helicopter research
program, BEAR, at the Richmond Field Station.
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"Science
can be pretty cool"
Sixth-graders glimpse robocopters and careers in
engineering
In a big green field at
Richmond Field Station, Mr. Ellensworth's sixth-grade class watches
a helicopter in the sky. It dips and swirls and does loop-de-loops,
flies backwards, stalls, then pops upside down and hovers. Then the
engine shuts off and it glides down to a nearly perfect landing.
"Whoah," the sixth-graders murmur in admiration. The pilot walks across
the field, picks up the helicopter and brings it back to the students.
The helicopter is one of several small-scale robocopter models in the
Berkeley Aerial Robot (BEAR) program run by EECS Professor Shankar Sastry.
The helicopter was remotely controlled by researcher Perry Kavros, but
it also has artificial intelligence capabilities that allows it to fly
autonomously. Kavros and fellow researchers are also testing models
with camera systems. The hope for BEAR is that it can help with military
intelligence gathering as well as civilian purposes
like search and rescue, and firefighting.
Today, researchers have put aside their work to answer questions from
these sixth-graders who go to Weibel Elementary School in Fremont. The
students are here on a class assignment to play reporter, asking questions
of the researchers for a video project. But they also get a taste of
what a career in math and science could hold by seeing some of the most
advanced toy-looking robots in the country.
In between flight demonstrations, students gather their courage to ask
questions. One girl shyly takes the microphone to ask: How does the
pilot shut it off if something goes wrong? There are functions on the
remote joystick panel, Kavros replies. What is a laser scanner and what
is your motivation for doing the project? others ask. The researchers
answer each question with patience and enthusiasm.
"What we want to help them understand is that technology can be accessible,"
says Peter Ray, the lab coordinator for the program. "If you do well
in math and get into a good college program, you can get to work on
a project like this."
Indeed, researcher Travis Pynn tells the class, "The moral of the story
is: Do all of your homework and someday, any one of you could do something
like this for a living."
In another demonstration, students pile into the research trailer to
watch Pynn remotely fly a model with a camera attached. The students
watch the flat TV screen mesmerized as they get a birds-eye view of
the surrounding landscape. Then Pynn hands a student the controls and
suddenly she's flying.
By the end of the afternoon, the technology has made an impression.
"Well, I've learned that robocopters are the tool of the future," says
Megan Powers, the sixth-grade class president. "Anyone can fly them,
except a baby."
Next to her is Bonita Tseng. "Before, I was like, 'Why science? But
now science can be pretty cool. Yeah, I'll study more."
To learn more about the
project, go to http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/bear/.
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