100 Robots for 100 Kids

96 and counting

2010-11-09T10:45:00.000-08:00

We had an event this past weekend at Intel Labs in Pittsburgh. Thanks to Dean, Kyle, Cheryl, Snehal, and Dana for helping out. Thanks to Intel for a great space and also ordering pizza for the group. We had a great bunch of sharp kids come out..We realized we've built robots with 96 kids! Only 4 more until we hit our goal!

Contest Winners

2010-11-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

When our participating kids build robots at home and submit videos to us of their creations, we enter them into a drawing to win gift certificates to Toys-R-Us. Here is a video from one of our recent winners:

Build day at Intel Labs Sept 2010

2010-09-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day building robots at Intel Labs in Pittsburgh. Many thanks to Intel for hosting us today!

The kids even got to see a real cutting edge robot used in research!

More photos from the Sept 19th build at Intel

2010-09-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

Test time!

Future robot builder...

Programming...

Build day at Intel Labs September 19th

2010-09-17T13:39:00.001-07:00

Volunteers are needed for our next robot build day this weekend, September 19th. We'll be starting at 12pm.

85/100 Videos

2010-02-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

Ok...here are two great videos of robot projects that the kids made today. I should remind you that these kids built these robots in less than three hours with no prior experience.

The task we encouraged people to try today was "obstacle avoidance". The goal was to build a robot that could detect a vase filled with water using its ultrasonic sensor, and drive around it without knocking the water over. Nearly everyone completed the task in less than 3 hours..Here is one example:

One child was super fast at completing the task, so he went back to his "lab" and built a ball shooting robot (to keep sisters away):

85/100 Part Deux

2010-02-13T21:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some more photos from today's event..

85/100

2010-02-13T21:34:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Dean Pomerleau and Intel Labs Pittsburgh for hosting our 100 Robots build day. Also, many thanks to Cheryl, Scott, Alex, Hanns, and Geoff, and Kyle for lending a helping hand. It was a great event today. I should also mention that today was our first event with the new NXT 2.0 robot kit. The new starter project is muuuch cooler than the previous one. We've now reached 85 of the 100 kids. Here are some photos from today's event:

Build day this Saturday at Intel Labs

2010-02-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

Intel Labs in Pittsburgh has been kind enough to host another robot build day at their office this Saturday. I look forward to seeing you all there.

Robot Build at Intel Research Part Deux

2009-08-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pics from today's build. The challenge for today was to build a robot that could use an ultrasonic sensor to detect an obstacle (a vase filled with water) and avoid it. We only had one spill...:) Oh, and we used the Robotics Engineering CDs provided by the Robotics Academy at NREC (thanks Robin!)

Robot Build Day at Intel Research

2009-08-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

We had great time today building robots at Intel Research. Thanks to Dean and the IRP Lab for hosting this event (and providing food and tasty snacks!). And thanks to all the volunteers for their time. Stay tuned for another event in September..

August Build At Intel Research

2009-08-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

Good news - Intel Research Pittsburgh has agreed to host a robots build day on August 15th. Contact Cheryl to sign up for this event. Hopefully they'll give us a demonstration of their "personal robotics" group.

July 11th Robot Build

2009-07-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

June Build

2009-06-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

June event

2009-05-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of doing a 3-part robot building series this summer. We'll start in June...please email if you're interested in participating or helping out.

Crossing 70

2009-03-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

A huge thanks to Kwadwo for helping us with our latest build day on March 28th..And I'll have to double check our records, but I now believe we've built robots with over 70 kids!!

March Build coming up

2009-03-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, we'll have a build day coming up soon in March..please email me or Cheryl if you'd like to be involved.

November Build

2008-11-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Cheryl, Felix, Hanns, and all the others who attended our November build day. We'll see if we can schedule one more before the end of the year.

Getting organized..

2008-11-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who attended the 100 Robots meeting and for signing up on our mailing list..We look forward to see you at our build this week..

Organizational Meeting

2008-09-15T16:30:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,

As I mentioned in the ULS talk, we'll be having an organizational meeting next Wed (9/24) at 6pm in NSH 3305. Please come if you can!

ULS Talk

2008-09-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks a lot to Thomas Witholt for letting me speak at the University Lecture Series. It was a lot of fun and people asked interesting quesitons. Thanks to everyone who came!

100 Robots Talk at the University Lecture Series

2008-09-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have some very exciting news. A couple weeks ago I was contacted by the CMU Provost's office. Apparently some people there had read about our project on the CMU homepage, and they thought it would make an interesting talk for the University Lecture Series. The ULS is a weekly broad-interest talk for the Carnegie Mellon community. Anyway, I'll be giving the talk on September 15th, 4:30pm in 136A Baker Hall (Adamson Wing). Here's an abstract of what I'll be talking about:

Abstract: 100 Robots, A Grassroots Project to Inspire Pittsburgh's Children

Imagine receiving $1,000 in the mail with a challenge: do some good in Pittsburgh. What would you do?

I received this challenge nearly two years ago as part of Oprah Winfrey's "Pay-It-Forward" program. In response, I launched the 100 Robots project with a simple goal. Our mission is to identify 100 children who have limited exposure to science and engineering, and teach them about robotics. Since receiving the initial challenge, the project has raised more than $25,000 from community organizations and taught more than 50 children in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program to build a working robot.

In this talk I will present a case study of 100 Robots and explain some of the "nuts and bolts" of starting a community project. I will also talk about ideas you can use in your own project such as building trust, finding partners, and raising funds.

Welcome back from Summer

2008-09-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone..well I'm finally back in Pittsburgh after a few months in Toronto. I talked with Cheryl recently and we're both eager to get things rolling again for Fall. We will have a build day coming up in the next few weeks during mid-late September. Stay tuned for more infomation..

Summer break

2008-05-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

Schools out, people are heading for vacations, and I'll be leaving Pittsburgh for a few months. So we won't be having any build days over the summer, but we'll be sure to start up again in the Fall. Any matches who would like to work on their own should contact Cheryl directly.

Have a great summer!

100 Robots make the CMU homepage!

2008-05-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by a CMU internal reporter. She heard about the project and wanted to feature us on the CMU homepage! She interviewed me and say the story would ran at the end of May. It just appeared on the main Carnegie Mellon page! You can read the story here.

Another Google Build Day

2008-05-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks a ton to Jordan, Cathy, and the other Googlers for probably our best build day yet. And thanks for Cheryl at BBBS for getting all the kids together. We had about 14 kids attend our latest build. And thanks to Google IT - who setup a bunch of laptops so kids could program the robots. Afterwards, we took everyone on a brief tour of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon. It was a really fun day! Photos coming soon..

A Major Contribution from the Grable Foundation

2008-02-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

I have some very exciting news to share. About one month ago, I submitted a grant request to the Grable Foundation. This is a large non-profit organization based in Pittsburgh that invests in childrens programs. We're very happy to report that the trustees approved the grant request. In fact, we just received a check for $14,250, the remaining amount needed to complete the project!! We have now raised over $25,000. I am deeply humbled at the support that all of our donors have shown. We've built robots with 33 children so far. Along with the contributions from Grable and Google, we now have funds for 67 more. Let's get to work.

A fundraiser from Diamond Management and Technology Consultants

2008-02-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

We just heard that one of our former participants, Alan, sponsored a fundraiser for the 100 Robots project through his company Diamond Management and Technology Consultants. In fact, a few days ago a woman I met in a coffeeshop (who works for Diamond) mentioned that she attended a fundraiser for some "robots for kids project". She had never met me before and didn't know that I was involved in this project. Small world. This kind of coincidence happens often in Pittsburgh. We're not sure the total amount raised yet, but we want to offer a huge thanks to Alan and the rest of the Diamond employees.

A nice thank you letter..

2008-01-18T11:43:00.000-08:00

We just received a very nice letter from one of the participants in the Google build day:

To the employees of Google Pittsburgh,

My name is Anthony ***** and I am a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters in Washington County. Last month my "little brother" (Daquawn) and I attended the robot build that was sponsored and hosted by your company. Daquawn and I greatly enjoyed our experience. I would like to thank all of you for your company's generous financial contribution to our community and the time and energy investment that was made by your volunteers to make this event possible.

Daquawn demonstrates a strong mechancial aptitude, and I believe he has the potential to one day become an engineer. Events like yours give him an opportunity to exercise and develop his design skills and take a glimpse into the world of professional engineering, which he would otherwise never see. With more activities like the robot build and continued encouragement from adults like his grandmother and me, Daquawn will hopefully find an interest in higher learning and one day pursue the career of his dreams!

Many thanks to Google Pittsburgh and all of your awesome volunteers,

Anthony *****

Google build days makes the BBBS newsletter

2008-01-15T11:39:00.000-08:00

I just saw this nice story about the Google build day published in the Big Brothers Big Sisters newsletter:
http://www.bbbspgh.org/viewnewsletter.asp?ID=2224#google

More photos from Google build

2007-12-16T11:24:00.000-08:00

Some photos from the Google build..

2007-12-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

Google Sponsors Robot Build Day

2007-12-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

Google has recently made a $5,000 donation to the 100 Robots project. This will allow us to buy an additional 20 robots! In fact, they offered to host a robot build day at their local Pittsburgh office. We held this build day on December 15th and it was a huge success. We had over 10 new builders and several 'old-timers' participate. Thanks to Cheryl at BBBS and the Google crew (Jordan, Cathy, Charles, Kelly, and Chris) for making this happen!!

Google Sponsors 100 Robots!!!

2007-10-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

I just received word that Google has committed $5,000 to our 100 Robots project..Wow. I'm speechless. More details coming soon...

More build photos...

2007-10-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

October 20th - Robot Build Day

2007-10-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

We just had another build day at Big Brothers Big Sisters..Thanks to Cheryl and the CMU crew Tomasz and Joey for helping out..

Sponsor a Robot Today

2007-10-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

So Big Brothers Big Sisters posted information about the 100 Robots project on their website and newsletter. We received many replies from "Bigs" who want to participate. We've got a waiting list right now of 24 children who really want to get a robot. We've got the space, we've got the kids, we've got lots of volunteers from Carnegie Mellon willing to help - the only thing holding us back is money. Will you sponsor a child's robot today?

Four more robots! Four more robots!

2007-10-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Four more NXT robots just arrived at BBBS. We're planning to have another build day very soon. All old participants are welcome to join in again. (Ok ok, I recycled this photo from before - but it had the right number of boxes!)

Welcome back from summer

2007-09-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

Ah, summertime is over..and now we're all back in school. A few days after I got back, I bumped into one of our "Bigs" Dan in a restaurant. He said that since school is back in session and the weather is cooling, he and his little Jaymes are looking to do more "indoor" (e.g. robot) activities. Now that the CMU crew is back in Pittsburgh, it's time to do more robot builds!

Random Donation

2007-07-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

I got a random letter and donation today from a woman named Sarah. It is very motivating to receive emails like this:

Hi Mark,

I met Keith Kleiner today and he was telling me about his and Mariela's project. I checked out his website and saw your project and your blog. It just so happens that our 12 year old is taking a TechKnowHow camp this week and in the afternoons, they are working with LEGO Mindstorm NXTs. Andrew's birthday is next week and all he has asked for is a LEGO Mindstorms kit. He is having so much fun at the camp that he wants to continue it after the camp is finished so it must be a good project.

Anyways, when I saw your blog and realized it is the same toy, I felt like it was kizmit and that I had to make a donation. It's only $50 but hopefully others will donate and you can add ours together to buy another kit. I want another child to be able to have an experience like Andrew is having. Those kids are lucky to have you.

Also, you asked where you can get them cheaper. I went to Toys R Us today and bought Andrew his birthday present. The cost was $259.99 plus tax but I applied for a Toys R Us credit card and saved $26 so it was only $233. I suppose it would be difficult to find a Toys R Us with a lot of them in stock but if you could buy enough of them, the 10% off might make a difference.

Thanks for doing what you are doing. It's a huge commitment but very rewarding!

Sarah

Thanks Eric and Susan

2007-07-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

My friends Eric and Susan were recently married. Rather than doing the typical registry thing, Eric and Susan listed their favorite charities on their wedding website and asked people to make donations rather than sending standard gifts (that will most likely end up in a garage sale anyway). I was totally surprised when Eric told me that 100 Robots was a featured charity! All of a sudden, I started receiving random donations from people in Ohio. This led to several hundred dollars in donations! So thanks Eric and Susan - we wish you all the best!

PS - While Eric was at Carnegie Mellon, he worked on one of the coolest robots around. The "Ballbot" is a verticle cylinder that balances itself on a single ball.

A Letter from a Little and his Mom

2007-06-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

I just received two very nice letters - one from a "little" and one from his mom:

Dear Mark,

"Hello!" I am Brandon ***'s mother, Terri ***.

I just wanted to personally "thank you" very much for the robot for Brandon. He absolutely loved the experience of building it with his Big Brother, Kevin. He had enjoyed building this and making it work more than even any experience he had done in Boy Scouts. He used to build a derby race car and a boat for races in Boy Scouts and has built other things in the past, but this was by far the most enjoyable for him! He was very proud of himself, as was I and he had a great time playing with it! I think it was truly wonderful of you and so generous to provide these for the kids! The Big Brothers program is truly the best program, and Brandon really enjoys his company with his big brother Kevin! Kevin is a very important person in Brandon's life and I hope that they continue their friendship. He will never be forgotten by Brandon. I am very grateful for everything that everyone involved with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program has done and wish there were more volunteers who realized what a difference they could make in a childs life!

Brandon and I thank you again for the "AWESOME" robot!

Sincerely,

:) Ms. Terri ***

This letter was written by Brandon:
Dear, Mark

Thank you for geting the robots for us. The robots are really fun. I tought it to go backward, forward, and to make a 360. I can even pick up stuff. For example, I tought to pick up a little ball. Your, friend Brandon

Now you have to admit, the NXT is way cooler than the pinewood derby car:

Photos From the Second Build Day

2007-05-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

We had our second successful robot building day at the Pittsburgh BBBS headquarters. Thanks to the CMU crew Colin, Kristen, Geoff, and Kevin. Here are some photos:

Contact from Lego

2007-05-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that we've had some email contact with the brand relations department at Lego. They are aware of our project and said they will discuss internally to see if there is any way they can help us. It would be great if they could support us - let's all keep our fingers crossed!!

8 more robots delivered to Big Brothers Big Sisters

2007-04-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

My order for 8 more robots just came in. This time I ordered from Amazon and was able to get free shipping and didn't have to pay sales tax. Even though I specified "super-saver 7 day shipping", these still came in overnight. Maybe they do nice things like this when you spend $2000. I dropped them off at BBBS while Cheryl was out at lunch. She had a nice surprise when she came back. Anyone know where we can get robots even cheaper?

Letters from participants

2007-03-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

I just received a very nice letter from one of the participants in Saturday's build. It's always nice to know that people appreciate the project. Here is Dan's letter:

Cheryl a huge thank you, and especially a thank you to Mark and the other folks from the CMU robotics group. In nearly 5 years of being matched with Jaymes, this was without a doubt one of the best activities that we've done. Jaymes enjoyed it so much, and he was so proud of what he created, he couldn't wait to tell people about it and show it off to his mother. We are looking forward to getting together this weekend to do more work on the robot.

I think that expanding the program is an extremely worthwhile endeavor. Please let me know if I can help plan/be a part of any fundraising events related to this project.

Best,
Dan

This letter just came in as well from Jason:

Hello Mark,

On behalf of my Little Branden, we want to thank you (and your grad student colleagues) for creating such a great opportunity for Branden to experience robotics. He was absolutely thrilled that within a few hours he was able to build a robot that responded to his verbal commands. It really gave him a sense of empowerment, and he is eager to move forward and make more complex robots. I'll be sure to keep you informed of our progress. It was a fantastic birthday experience for him. All the best,

Jason

This came in a few days ago:

Hi Cheryl and Mark, Sorry it took so long for me to give you an update.Jeremy and I got together on 3/11 to start the firststage of the robot. I forgot the first rule, butluckily my wife was there to run out to the store toget batteries. Jeremy put it together in record time.We spent the rest of the time programming it. We'renext going to build the arms. He's been having a toughtime at school, so I've been emailing his teachers. Itold them about the robot project, and although he'susually pretty quiet and doesn't want to talk with theteachers, it got him to open up when they asked himquestions about it. Yet another bonus from thisprogram. The pictures are attached, and I'll send avideo. Thanks for putting this together. Good luckwith the fundraising. Please let me know if there'sanother building session that will be held at theheadquarters.Max

100 Robots makes the BBBS newsletter

2007-03-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

BBBS just featured 100 Robots in their monthly newsletter. Be sure to check out the story.

BBBS posts build day photos to their website

2007-03-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

Big Brothers Big Sisters just posted all the photos from the March 3rd build to their website..Many of the photos below are taken from these..

Thanks Cheryl

2007-03-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give a quick thanks to Cheryl at BBBS. She's lined up the kids and helped us get great exposure. Without her we wouldn't have gotten very far.

Videos

2007-03-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

We managed to take a few videos during the event. Be sure to check these out:
Everybody's building (19 MB)
Circlin' (4 MB)
Grippers (2.5 MB)
Sound response (8 MB)

Yes, you get to keep the robot

2007-03-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

This project isn't just about learning to build robots. It's about giving kids a creative outlet and allowing them to explore without the pressure of school, projects, etc... Each kid gets to bring the robot home and many have said they plan to continue working on their bots. We look forward to getting photos of their creations.

The finished product

2007-03-15T16:04:00.000-07:00

Each kid worked at his own pace and everyone managed to build a working robot. Several got the creative bug and kept building. People experimented with the various sensors and added motors and grippers. People figured out very quickly how to write basic programs and soon the room was buzzing with beeps/boops and other robo noises.

Thanks to the CMU crew

2007-03-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks again to robograds Ling, Vini, Kristina, and Hanns for giving up their Saturday afternoon to provide Mindstormin' expertise.

Learning about range finders

2007-03-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

It didn't take people very long to figure out how many cool things the NXTs can do. Several of the groups got out their ultrasonic rangefinders and started playing with them. Jason and Branden even programmed their robot to turn when approaching walls.

Building in action

2007-03-15T15:37:00.000-07:00

Like the experience we had with Thomas earlier - kids were a little intimidated at first. In fact, I think the Bigs were even more intimidated. But I was really impressed with how quickly everyone learned.

100 Robots Officially Kicks Off

2007-03-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

I'm very happy to say that we did our 1st robot building day on March 3rd. We had 6 kids participate with their mentors. We ordered a bunch of pizzas and spent 3 hours building robots and hanging out. The day went even better than I hoped.

BBBS features 100 Robots on their homepage!

2007-03-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

So Big Brothers Big Sisters just featured our program on their website. Hopefully the photo of me and Boris won't scare off any potential donors.

A letter from Big Brothers Big Sisters

2007-02-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

So Big Brothers Big Sisters has already put together a list of children for our project pilot. We will be doing a kickoff with 8 kids in a couple weeks. Here is a copy of the letter that BBBS sent to its "Bigs" announcing the project ...

A Special Invitation for you and your Little -

Many of you came to BBBS because you felt fortunate that the experiences offered to you as a child were positive and encouraging and that because of that you felt you had something to offer a child who perhaps was less fortunate. The notion of “paying it forward” can be seen in many unique and creative ways and BBBS has been presented with an opportunity to double the potential impact of such a pay it forward premise.

Mark Palatucci, a PhD student at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, recently approached BBBS to partner in an exciting opportunity called “100 Robots”. Mark and his colleagues realized they were lucky enough to have opportunities as children to develop skills and interests through their play with robots and computers that led them to the successses they are now achieving at CMU and elsewhere. Through an initial gift of $1000 based on Oprah’s Pay it Forward program, Mark was challenged to “do some good in Pittsburgh” and came up with the idea to give 100 at-risk children the chance to develop a passion for robotics and technology by building their own robot, a Mindstorm NXT from Lego! Mark and colleague Boris Sofman, who happens to be a Big Brother, tested their premise by providing Boris’ Little Brother, Thomas, with a Mindstorm NXT before Christmas and then spent the day building. Check out the following links to see what happened!

http://100robots.blogspot.com and http://www.thegivingchallenge.com/mark/Mark%20palatucci%20video.wmv

Mark and Boris realized that having a mentor there to help guide during the build was key to the success and that is where Big Brothers Big Sisters comes in! Mark and his colleagues are looking to fund the 100 robots, but they are not in the position to provide the children and the mentors...but we can! While this Lego system is technically a toy…it does not come cheap, each robot kit costs $250. It is the goal of “100 Robots” to raise the $25,000 to purchase the 100 robots and in turn donate them to Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“100 Robots” currently has 8 Mindstorm NXT kits ready to go and we would like to extend an invitation to you and your Little to be part of the initial robot-build! To kick off the partnership and set up an optimal setting for building with some expert “technical” support from the CMU Robotics Institute on hand, we are hoping to gather the 8 lucky matches together at BBBS for an afternoon of robot building…and refreshments!

Some things to consider before you say “yes”:

Do you think your Little would be interested in receiving and building a robot, do they have an interest in science, math or technology?
Are you and your Little willing to share what you have learned and accomplished with the “100 Robots” program either through photos, videos, or writing (journal, blog, or letter)
Does your Little have access to a home computer or would you be willing to use your computer to expand the capabilities of the robot? (This is not essential, but having access to a computer provides you and your Little with a greater opportunity to do more creative things with the robot)

If so, please consider being in our pilot “100 Robots” build that will kick off

...
...
...
Refreshments provided
(If you are unable to attend the kick off , but still interested in participating you can do the building on your own)

Please rsvp to Cheryl no later than 2/21/07 if you are interested in participating.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for your time and attention to this rather long email! Cheryl

A New Partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters

2007-02-14T17:26:00.000-08:00

Last week I went down to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pittsburgh. I talked with their special services coordinator Cheryl about our 100 Robots project. Cheryl and the other members of BBBS seemed very excited about the project and we agreed to be partners. BBBS is a great organization. They already have a network of at-risk children and mentors in place and are always looking for creative activities for their Bigs and Littles to do together. It seemed like a natural fit.

Anyway, I'm happy to say we made our first robot drop. We dropped off 8 NXT robots at BBBS and they are already preparing a list of children that would be appropriate for the project. More coming soon..

Keith and Mariela discuss their Giving Challenge on Oprah

2007-01-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

So this is cool. Keith and Mariela, our lead donors, were just featured on the Oprah show. Apparently, Oprah found out about The Giving Challenge . This is the project that Keith and Mariela started after seeing Oprah's Pay-It-Forward Challenge
See the post on Oprah's site

That's how we roll

2006-12-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

It's possible to program the NXT robot without a computer. In less than 5 minutes, we were able to teach Thomas how to control the bot. Click the photo for a short movie of his first creation..

The finished product

2006-12-20T23:18:00.000-08:00

Thomas worked at his own pace with very little supervision from us. 1.5 hours and 2 burritos later, the first working bot was created. Thomas shows off his creation...

The uneaten burrito

2006-12-20T23:16:00.000-08:00

We were all getting a little bit hungry. I ran down to the local Qdoba to pick up some burritos for everyone. Thomas said he was hungry - but when I got back he seemed so engrossed with the robot that he didn't want to eat. Boris and I "pounded down" our burritos while Thomas continued to build. Since there were "no moms allowed" at geek-time, there was no nagging. His burrito sat idle for about 30 minutes..At the Robotics Institute, we often work while we eat anyway. He'll definitely be ready for the RI in a few years..

Don't forget the batteries

2006-12-20T23:15:00.000-08:00

Note to self: Don't forget the batteries when buying a present for a child. Luckily Kevin held down the fort while I ran (literally) to the store to grab a pack of Duracells.

Building in action

2006-12-20T23:14:00.001-08:00

Click the photo to see a short video of robot building in action...

Where's the left elbow joint?

2006-12-20T23:14:00.000-08:00

We decided to start small and pick one of the easy designs. Once Thomas figured out how to interpret the instructions, he was off to the running..One of the trickiest parts of building a robot is just finding the necessary pieces in the "big bag o' parts".

Who's ready to build a robot?

2006-12-20T23:10:00.000-08:00

Ok..Put away the vegetable dip, the humus, and the fruit salad. Proper "geeking-out" requires lots o' sugary snacks. Thanks to my b-day party the night before, we were not in short supply. After 15 minutes I realized I was the only one eating the cookies.. Also, take a look at the china closet in the background..You won't find any china, but you will find the Movit Robots I built when I was 12 years old. My life has now come full circle - 15 years later I'm still building robots and eating chocolate chip cookies.

It's a...uh...uh...a robot!

2006-12-20T23:08:00.000-08:00

My cousin's husband takes about 15 minutes to unwrap a gift. Thomas ripped this package open in 15 seconds. "You got me a robot?!"

Robot 1: Thomas and Boris

2006-12-20T23:05:00.000-08:00

Ok..We've got 10 robots so far. It's time to start giving them away. Of course, finding the right children is probably the hardest part of this project. My friend Boris is part of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program. His "little" is Thomas, a 12 year old six-grader from Pittsburgh's South Side. We decided to surprise Thomas with an early Christmas present...

Wow..10% there

2006-12-20T23:02:00.000-08:00

Wow - this is totally exciting. I've only mentioned this project to a few people so far but the energy seems to be building. We've managed to purchase another 6 robots in two days!! Thanks everyone!!! Let's keep them coming....(I'm currently storing these in Yoon's bedroom..hopefully I'll find a better spot before he gets back from break).

Kick Off..

2006-12-20T22:59:00.000-08:00

At $250 a piece, we'll need to raise $25,000 to purchase 100 of these kits. Thanks again to Keith and Mariela's Giving Challenge for being the project catalyst and lead donor.

The Robot

2006-12-20T22:52:00.000-08:00

Ah...the new Lego Mindstorm NXT. What an amazing robot - 32 bit processor, 2 motors, and an amazing set of sensors (touch, light, sound). It even has an ultrasonic range finder! (translation: it knows how far away things are). With a computer you can program it to do just about anything. This robot is an amazing device priced at only $250..Still, this is out of reach for many kids..

Please make a donation

2006-12-19T20:17:00.000-08:00

We really need your financial help in order to make this project a success. Any donations you make will be considered contributions to Carnegie Mellon and will be tax deductable (as of 3/14/08). Here's how to make a donation:

Go to the Carnegie Mellon Gift Page.
On the gift page, select "New Gift"
Set the "Designation" pull-down to "Other - Describe Below"
Write "100 Robots" in the Comments Box

Note that you need to write "100 Robots" in the comments box for our project to get credit.

The Mission of 100 Robots

2006-12-19T17:59:00.000-08:00

My name is Mark Palatucci and I am a PhD student at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. I created this blog to tell you about an outreach project that I started with a few other students called "100 Robots".

The goal of our project is quite simple. We want to inspire children in Pittsburgh and help them develop passions early in life. When I look at successful people, I realize they all have something in common. They developed passions as children that turned into careers. After talking to my colleagues at the Robotics Institute, I realized almost all of us were playing with robots and computers as children.

We realize that not everyone is able to have this kind of exposure. This is the motivation behind our project. We want to find 100 kids in Pittsburgh - kids who would not normally be exposed to something like robotics - and share something that we at the Robotics Institute are pretty passionate about.

Specifically, our goal is to give each kid a Mindstorm NXT. I'm not sure if you're familiar with this new toy from Lego, but it is a dream (many of my colleagues want one for themselves!). Unfortunately, it is fairly expensive ($250 each). Our goal is to raise $25,000 to purchase 100 of these toys. So far we've raised $2600 and purchased 10 NXTs. Will you help us purchase the remaining 90?

The Giving Challenge

2006-12-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

So an interesting thing happened this week. I got a package in the mail that had a letter, a DVD, and a check for $1,000. The letter had a challenge: do some good in Pittsburgh. The only requirement was that I couldn't spend the money on myself.

So it turns out my friends Keith and Mariela Kleiner were inspired by Oprah Winfrey's Pay-It-Forward Challenge. After hearing about Pay-It-Forward, Keith and Mariela started their own challenge. They launched a website for a project called The Giving Challenge. They sent $1,000 checks to 20 of their friends and asked them to Pay-It-Forward. Here's a snippet from their site:

Inspired by Oprah's "Pay It Forward Challenge" we decided to give our friends and family the gift of giving during the holiday season. We gave 20 of our friends and family $1,000 each to spend toward bettering someone else's life, and asked them to make a video documenting their experience.

At first our Giving Challenge was created just for our friends and family, but we soon expaneded the scope of our challenge and invited others to join our cause as donors. This website documents the impact of every $1,000 gift during our 2006 Giving Challenge.

Our 2006 Giving Challenge brought so much happiness to our friends, family, and to those in need, that we have decided to host the Giving Challenge again during the 2007 holiday season. If you would like to get involved in our 2007 Giving Challenge please email Mariela Kleiner here.

Enjoy the videos and get involved if you can!

Thank You,
Mariela and Keith Kleiner

Wow. So I spent a few days bouncing ideas around. How should I spend this money? Well one night it hit me. I went to the SH Eat-N-Park with my friend Kevin and told him about the idea I had. We brainstormed around 2am over milkshakes and buffalo chicken burgers. The next day I launched this website and 100 Robots was born. ...Everything you're about to read was catalyzed by Keith and Mariela's generous gift. 100 Robots would not exist if that $1,000 check hadn't appeared in my mailbox.