Learning About Robots

SELECTED SITES

Amazing Robot Museum: a Tribute to the Robots in Entertainment
Visit this site for an interesting decade-by-decade overview of notable robots seen on the stage, in television, and in film, throughout the 20th century.

BattleBots IQ: the Smart Sport
Learn about Battlebots IQ's National Robotic Competition (including a table top category, open to middle and high school teams) at this site. Learn about the history of the Battlebots competitions by clicking here.

Lego Company Web Site

MIT Leg Laboratory
Learn about the legged robots, including "one-legged hoppers, bipedal runners, bipedal walkers, a quadruped, and two kangaroo-like robots", created at MIT's Leg Lab.

Museum of Science
Visit this site often to learn about current and future exhibits, courses, workshops, and other programs. (Looking for something good to read? Check out "Book Club for the Curious", and find suggested books about science and technology!)

Robot: from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This terrific resource offers information about the history (as well as a literary history), contemporary use, current development and future possibilities for the innovative use of robots in society. Be sure to click on "Fictional Robots and Androids", a chronological list of robots featured in literature, television, and film. (Might robots one day displace or compete with humans? Visit this site to find out!) Also, be sure to look at a list of robotics competitions.

Robot Information Central
This site features a mammoth list of links and FAQs.

robots.net: Robomenu
Visit this site, where robot builders share their creations via the web. (Click on the "Projects" link, and learn about interesting ongoing and completed projects.)

Used-Robots.com
Are you building a robot? Are you looking for parts? Find what you're looking for at this site.

MAGAZINE AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

MiddleSearch Plus
This easy-to-search database features the full text of 140 magazines selected for middle school students, including the following science and engineering magazines: Discover, Odyssey, Popular Science, Science News, and Science World. (Stop by the IMC to obtain the User ID and Password you'll need to use this database.)

Newsbank
This database includes the full text of the Boston Globe (1980-present) and the Boston Herald (1991-present).

ANIMATED MOVIES

BrainPOP
This terrific collection of more than 300 original animated movies in all subject areas includes many in the fields of science and technology, as well as activity pages, timelines, comic strips and other features. Check out the "Robots" and "Assembly Line" movies, or click on "Technology: Inventions, Innovations, and Discoveries", and browse among the many movies available. (Stop by the IMC to obtain the User ID and Password you'll need to use this database.)