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VEXplorer Robot Brings Robotics to the Younger Set

by John Myers, ConnectPress Editor | Submitted Wednesday Oct 22, 2008 [08:28 AM]


Marie Planchard, director of worldwide education markets for SolidWorks and a former teacher, discussed the new education program offered by SolidWorks in a recent podcast. In the current program any time a customer purchases a VEXplorer Robot, a free copy of SolidWorks will be included with the educational toy. The VEXplorer itself was also designed with SolidWorks.

The VEXplorer Robot is a fairly complex model kit featuring over 300 parts. Planchard said assembling the robot should take an early teenager about an hour and a half to assemble. The process requires technical feats as complex as wiring a camera component and connecting a gripping tool to the main body of the robot. Planchard emphasized that the toy was designed to help students understand how robots really work.

“What we at SolidWorks wanted to do here was give students a chance to experience the design process in their homes,” explained Planchard. The VEXplorer will give children the ability to not just build and play with the robot, but they will also have the opportunity to design new versions of the robot using SolidWorks software.

Planchard explained that what makes the combination of SolidWorks and VEXplorer such a powerful educational tool is that it allows children to build the robot and then if they decide to make design changes, they can take it apart and learn what it is capable of as a physical model. It helps children who are used to working with their hands make the leap to conceptualizing the project digitally. “Students can even go to the hardware store and find new devices they can add to the robot,” said Planchard.

Planchard said that VEXplorer is designed for individuals with no experience with robotics to learn about the process. “I haven’t found a single person who is too young to start learning about robotics,” she said. “We support a program called Botball which targets children in 5th and 6th grade. We move into middle-school with the VEX systems and high school with the Gears system.”

Innovation First, the designer of the VEXplorer, chose SolidWorks to create the toy because it allowed them to bring the retail product to market in less than a year. They were able to handle the manufacturing in China while being able to communicate design changes quickly, said Planchard.

Robots were not a random choice for the subject of the SolidWorks educational project; they are a rapidly growing industry. In her capacity as a writer for ‘Robotics Magazine,’ Planchard has seen nothing but evidence that the robotics field is growing. “This growth rate is the reason why SolidWorks is putting such an emphasis on education in the robotics field,” said Planchard.

Similarly, Planchard said she has had numerous personal conversations with professional engineers who have told her how powerful an impact programs like the VEXplorer had on them as children. “The trend today is that robotics are cool and anybody can do it at any age,” she added.

However, Planchard warned that even with the large number of robotics programs only about 28 percent of the potential students are being reached. “By going to retail and letting kids see VEXplorer at Toys “R” Us or Sharper Image, they can see that they too can do something cool or find out if they have what it takes to be an engineer,” she said. “What we’re really about is reaching that next generation of children anyway we can."

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Tags:VEX  SolidWorks  educational+robotics  VEXplorer+robot 

(http://www.solidworkscommunity.com/feature_full.php?cpfeatureid=31186&id=285847)

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