Lucy
When asked about her favourite robot at the exhibition Maria
Chiara said,“I was very impressed by Lucy. It’s mental.” Unlike
many of the large robots to be seen, Lucy was built at home
by Steve Grand who also wrote the book, Growing up with
Lucy: How to Build an Android in Twenty Easy Steps.
He wanted to build Lucy to understand how human brains
learn with time. After many years with no programming, Lucy
learned to tell the difference between a banana and a bunch
of apples. “Lucy’s stupid- but so was Einstein at 3 weeks old,”
said Grant.
Pepper
Have you ever imagined being able to give a robot a fist-
bump? Probably not, but now you can. Pepper could possibly
be the cutest robot in the museum, she has sensors all over
her ‘body’ and she talks to you when you approach her in the
museum.
She understands what you say to her and before she plays
a game with you, she will offer you a friendly fist-bump. She
asks you questions and responds to your answers. Her hands
and head are sensitive and when she asks you to touch them
her reactions are always fun to see.
Kaspar
Kaspar has been described as “a simplified version of a hu-
man being”. He was designed to help children with autism as
they struggle with social cues and Kaspar makes this easier.
His face has no expression and specific buttons make the
robot do specific things so that he never surprises the chil-
dren. The curator says that Kaspar is helpful as “they trust the
robot much more than they would [trust] a stranger”.
Get Involved Robot Events
You’re never too young to take an interest in
building something amazing. Rohan Agrawal
was able to learn to build and programme
robots when he was only 12 years old. Tech
Camp provides courses for young people to
start learning how to programme and build
robots.
Who knows, maybe one day one of your
creations will be on display at the science
museum! The Science Museum hosts many robot themed
events during weekends and school holidays.
Keep looking out for them at sciencemuseum.
org.uk/robots
The exhibition is running until 3 September.
Get your tickets online for £13.