National Robotics Week

Grades 5-up
ISBN 978-0-7660-3303-0

April 9th through April 17th calls for the celebration of the second annual National Robotics Week. Whether there's a robotic club in your school, or you want to raise awareness of robotic technology, or just because students think robots are cool, Enslow's title, Robot Experiments teaches readers what makes a robot work. Hands-on experiments and steps on how to design, build, and program their very own robots are broken down into simple ideas that students can grasp.

Robonaut 2 blasts off aboard the space shuttle Discovery

Robonaut 2, NASA's first human-like robotic astronaut is scheduled to be aboard the space shuttle Discovery when it blasts off into outer space today from Cape Canaveral, Florida. A joint project between NASA and General Motors, Robonaut 2 is designed to assist human astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The primary task of R2 (as it is called) is to demonstrate to engineers on the ground how humanoid robots behave in space. It is hoped that a humanoid robot may someday venture outside of the space station and assist it's human counterparts in performing maintenance and repair work, as well as assist in conducting scientific observations.

Robot Experiments, a new middle-school title from Enslow Publishers, shows how to build and program a robot. Written by Dr. Ed Sobey, it includes information on what's inside a robot, to sounds, controlling LEDs, and adding touch sensors.