Middle and high school students will show their skills in robotics and problem-solving while teachers, educators, researchers and policymakers discuss how to use computing, technology, engineering and robotics in K-14 education at the second annual UC Davis C-STEM Day, Saturday, May 5.

More information about the event can be found at the UC Davis Website.

The grant provides at least $500,000 over the next two years to Barobo, based in West Sacramento, with potential for up to another $500,000 in matching funds if the company can make sales and attract venture capital.

“We are very excited about receiving this grant,” said Harry Cheng, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. “This is a milestone in transferring our technology from the lab into a commercial product.”

Cheng hopes his modular robot “Mobot” can become a useful tool for teaching robotics as early as third grade, and engage a new generation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

A single Mobot module has wheels at each end and two hinges in the center. An individual module can drive on its wheels, crawl like an inchworm, or raise one end of its body and swivel around.

The modules can be connected together to make wheeled vehicles, “snakes,” “gorilla,” humanoid, or other shapes with different applications. A new video produced by Barobo shows some of the configurations in action.

Cheng and Barobo have been working with regional middle and high schools to use the Mobot in classes. Students can learn to build and program the robots using laptop computers. They can also design and build new prototype parts for the robots using three-dimensional printing.

Cheng and his former graduate student, Graham Ryland, started the company in 2011 based on the patented technology the two invented while Ryland was studying for his master’s degree. The technology is licensed by the university to Barobo. The inventors received an NSF SBIR Phase I grant of $150,000 from NSF last year.

Cheng also established the UC Davis K-14 Outreach Center for Computing and STEM Education (C-STEM) to improve education in computing, science, technology, engineering and math. The center is hosting C-STEM Day at UC Davis on Saturday, May 5, an event that will include “RoboPlay Competitions” in which local students will demonstrate their projects with the Mobot.

See the article at UC Davis.

RoboPlay Competitions (http://c-stem.ucdavis.edu/roboplay), organized by the UC Davis C-STEM Center, are open-ended design challenges that integrate computer programming and math with elements of writing, art, music, choreography, design, and film making. Students in middle and high schools will write computer programs to create robot dances and robot shows as well as complete robot challenges using the modular robot Mobot from Barobo, Inc. RoboPlay Competitions are designed for students to play robots with fun and at the same time seamlessly learn computing, science, tecnnology, engineering, and math (C-STEM) subjects. This video is a sample RoboPlay Robot Show.