Jessica Torres is a Middlesex Community College student completing a Human Services internship here at Green Street this semester as a teaching assistant in our Discovery AfterSchool Program. She will be making several blog posts and reflections during her time here for an inside look at our AfterSchool classes.
Middlesex Community College Robotics Club Visits Green Street
By: Jessica Torres
The Discovery AfterSchool students received a special visit for a recent half day program. However, it was not just a human visit. A robot named Mixy was brought over by the Robotics Club from Middlesex Community College to show the children all that she could do.
The students sat in awe as Mixie greeted them saying “Hi my name is Mixy”. Next, Mixy’s head sensor was touched and she was told to stand up and walk. The children were so surprised that Mixy could walk across the room like a human being. The Robotics Club college students then explained how they have to program Mixy to talk and move. First, they have to signal the robot to do something touching the head sensor.
Then, the college student touched the top of Mixy’s head and said “Mixy can you do a dance?” Mixy replied “Yes. I can do the Macarena, the YMCA, and the Gangnam Style”. Mixy was asked to “Do the YMCA”. The children laughed and screamed in excitement as Mixy broke it down and did the YMCA dance.
Each student was able to pick a word or sentence to program in the computer to tell Mixy what to say. Some children came up with silly things to say like as a joke or a long word such as “Mississippi”. The students learning about robotics and really enjoying getting to participate by directing Mixy to talk to the group.