Sense, Think, Act

What is a robot? How will they influence our lives? What are robots thinking about? We will be exploring these questions by designing and building robots that sense, think, and act in the world. We will begin by covering the basic ingredients of a robot, and how existing robots use these ingredients to operate. Through a series of experiments, students will become familiar with a variety of sensors and actuators that will allow their robot’s to see, touch, hear and move. Using these experiments as a foundation, students will come up with unique robot tasks and behaviors. Is your robot afraid of the dark? Does it like to dance? Does it play with your cat? Students will brainstorm robot behaviors and then build custom robots able to perform these behaviors. We will be exploring how programming robots allows them to think and act on their own.

Students will gain hands-on experience with basic electronics, mechanical design, and software for controlling autonomous robots. We will practice brainstorming novel applications for robotics, physical prototyping, and iterative testing.

Ryan Wistort

MS, Robotics, Media Arts and Sciences, MIT

Ryan Wistort is a designer and engineer who uses a mixture of disciplines to explore the links between emerging technology, creativity, fabrication and experience. His work experience and skill set include: industrial, graphic, and interaction design, as well as mechanical, electrical and software engineering. He has developed Mars rover technology for NASA, maintained robotic musical instruments for björk, invented robot hands for Intel Research, and consulted for Toy companies such as Hasbro on the future of human robot interaction. Ryan received a Master’s degree from the MIT Media Lab, where he built and studied robots as a human interface in the Personal Robots Group.

Links:
Wistort Labs