On April 14 (Sunday), the University of Notre Dame is hosting its second annual community-wide event celebrating National Robotics Week.
The event is free and open to the public, and local students, parents and teachers are especially encouraged to attend. It will take place between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the Stepan Center at Notre Dame. Visitors will be able to see and interact with robots built for fun, learning and cutting-edge research.
A total of 82 students and faculty members from across Notre Dame’s colleges of Engineering and Arts and Letters and the Robinson Community Learning Center will demonstrate their robots and discuss their research. Visitors will have the chance to interact with all exhibits, and learn about the amazing variety of ways robots are making a difference in the world, from autism and stroke rehabilitation to digital music.
For example, students in Notre Dame’s Autonomous Mobile Robots computer science course will be demonstrating their collaborative class projects, which were designed specifically for this event. Faculty and students from the Robotics, Health and Communication Laboratory will showcase two robots that interact with humans like R2-D2 in “Star Wars.” Also, students from the Computer Vision Research Laboratory will show how they can scan a face to detect a person’s heart rate.
In addition to the undergraduate and graduate students who will be staffing each station, faculty and staff from the University will be available to answer questions about the research and how robots are being used make the world a better place in which to live. Participating faculty include Laurel Riek, assistant professor of computer science and engineering and the event’s coordinator; Scott Howard, assistant professor of electrical engineering; James Schmiedeler, associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering; Michael Stanisic, associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering; Aaron Striegel, associate professor of computer science and engineering; Paul Down, professor of industrial design; and David Moss, assistant vice president of student affairs and coach of the Robinson Center’s Lego Robotics Team.
National Robotics Week celebrates robotics technology development while educating the public about the many ways in which robotics technology impacts society and while encouraging students to pursue careers in engineering, science, technology and math related fields.
For more information on the exhibits for this year’s event, visit engineering.nd.edu/NDNRW.