30-06-2025
Children buzzed to make own robots at science fest
Clara Stevens, 11, shows off her butterfly robot at the New Zealand International Science Festival at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum yesterday. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
There was plenty of whirring and buzzing at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum yesterday.
More than a dozen eager children participated in a "make your own robot" workshop at the site as part of the New Zealand International Science Festival.
Organiser Dr Mike Paulin said children got the opportunity to first make a small butterfly robot, then move on to something larger with a "bristle bot" made out of toothbrush bristles and hooked up to a small computer.
"They learn a little bit of basic electronics, how to build a circuit and enough to fix the robot.
"So they make the robot themselves, and then they get to keep it.
"They learn enough to fix it if it breaks, and they learn that you can make things move, you can make a little butterfly robot — it's really simple."
The butterfly robot would take the children about 20 minutes to make, while the bristle bot or some of the more complicated robots could take over an hour.
"We've got transistors and we've got light sensors. We're building up little by little.
"So for the larger robots, we've got a motor, we've got a capacitor here, we've got sensors and we've got transistors."
He had enjoyed making things from a young age and wanted to pass on that enthusiasm to the children.
"What they really like is making them themselves — what we found is that I used to make these things, and then you give it to a kid, and they went, 'well, that's cute'. And then 10 minutes later, they're off doing something else," Dr Paulin said.
"But we've been doing this for 10 years, and then sometimes we run into the kids who say 'I've still got my whistle blower'.
"Because they make it themselves, and then it becomes their little pet. So, it's just that kind of ownership that comes in, the realisation that you can make it real simple, and within a few minutes, and they learn a bit."
