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Carnegie Mellon Startup Will Loan 1,000 Robots To Students

By TechTaffy Desk

Finch_RobotsBirdBrain Technologies, a Pittsburgh startup that commercializes projects developed by Carnegie Mellon University’s Create Lab, will loan 1,000 robots to school districts and educational groups during Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), Dec. 8-14. The deadline for applications is Oct. 4, if you want one. Here is the link for additional details.

The Finch robots, manufactured under license from the Carnegie Mellon University, are low-cost, tabletop robots with bird-like features. The robots are built based on four years of educational research by the Create Lab, and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. BirdBrain began marketing the robot in 2011. If you want to buy one, the Finch robot costs $99.

BirdBrain will cover the costs of shipping and will provide a detailed, one-hour exercise for students to program Finch. The company will ship five robots to each participating organization early in November to allow teachers time to prepare for CSEdWeek. The remainder of the robots will be shipped to arrive by Dec. 4.

CSEdWeek is an annual program dedicated to showing K-12 students the importance of computer science education. Organized each year by the Computing in the Core coalition and Code.org, CSEdWeek is held in recognition of the Dec. 9, 1906, birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper.

[Image courtesy: BirdBrain Technologies]

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