In the mid-20th century, futuristic cartoons such as Astroboy and the Jetsons, made a big impact. These animated television series boosted our imagination with autonomous and intelligent robots becoming part of everyday life. During the transition from the 20th to the 21st century, there has been dramatic development in a number of areas such as Information and Communication Technology, Electric and Electronic Engineering and Mechatronics. These fields of technology now, combined, have established the basis for the era, the robotics era.

It was not so long time ago that mainframe computers became popular and were used to cater for individual users. Robots are now becoming more popular and rapidly moving into our daily life. We can easily speculate that, in the not-so-distant future, robots will become crucial elements in both Education and Entertainment. In these days of high technology, there are many remarkable products available to young students in the modern world. Extensive research shows that Robots will be able to provide a problem-based learning environment for educational purposes.

The KAI Robot kit is such a development. It comes with a wonderful teaching program which has been designed by a collaboration of educators and professional robot experts. It is an excellent educational product having many outstanding features. Unlike some popular, but toy-like, products, it does not operate in a simple plug-and-play mode. Students can use ordinary tools to build robots using various but modularized frames, pulleys, gears, bolts and nuts. This product allows youngsters to experience varied and practical techniques which also present a challenge. Youngsters can study and research physics, biology, mechatronics and electronics to explore and improve their creativity. This aspect allows people of differing ages to use this product over many years, thus learning skills at various levels.

The KAI robot learning program is not just about building a physical robot. It teaches students how to logically program, sense the environment and control actuators. The programming environment provides youngsters a method to develop various control functions, while learning logical thinking. The icon-based programming mode not only allows beginners to easily start programming, but also allows the experienced programmer to make complicated programs while viewing the whole process at a glace.

I have used KAI robot kits for teaching young students over the last few years and found that it was extremely helpful for education. I often find that many young people attend events such as the International Robot Olympiad (IRO) and the Robocup, and compete with each other. Through the preparation and competitions, they can develop their skills and knowledge in robotics and related areas as well as team management skills. Considering its easy-to-learn but varied learning environment, I would strongly recommend people, both young and old, to explore the world of KAI Robots.

CV
Dr Jun Jo (University of Sydney)
2001 – present Co-Editor, Federation for the Robot Soccer Association (FIRA) News
2001– present Chair, FIRA Robot Soccer Simulation Committee
2001– present Member, International Robot Olympiad Committee (IROC)
2003 – present Director, Robotics and Computer Games (RnG) Lab jointly
       supported by Griffith University and Gold Coast City Council
2004 - present Editor, International Robot Olympiad (IRO) News
       International Robot Olympiad.
2005 - Organising Chair, APIS05 The 4th International Conference on Asia-Pacific Information Society

Professor Jun Jo is affiliated with the School of Information and Communication Technology, Griffith University Gold Coast Campus.

He obtained his degrees, B.Arch (Eng), M.Arch (Eng) and PhD.Arch (University of Sydney) in 1981, 1987 and 1994 respectively.

He has taught and researched in various areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Computer Aided Design, Computer Simulation and Games, Multimedia Design and Production, Wireless Communications, and Robotics.

He is currently directing the ‘Robotics and Games Laboratory’, which was established in 2003, with financial support from both Griffith University and the Gold Coast City Council.

This lab has been used for conducting various research activities in three major areas: robotics, e-learning and computer games.

There are over ten research students, and staff involved in these research activities. In 2001 the ‘Robot Soccer Simulator’ was developed at Griffith University through the collaborative work of Dr Jo and several Bachelor of Multimedia students.

It has now become the international standard platform for both strategy development and FIRA ‘SimuroSot’ competitions, and has been used for a number of national and international games since the ‘Robot World Cup 2002’ game in Seoul.

He recently developed a “vision-capable robot controlled using a mobile phone and Bluetooth”, and a “Biped Robot balanced by an inclinometer”.

Currently, Dr Jo is organising the International Robot Olympiad 2006 (IRO2006) on the Gold Coast, to be held at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in November 2006.