I've been noticing a trend - more and more educators are using industrial robots to inspire and challenge their students!

Check out these examples of standard 6-axis robots moving into the classroom to stack bricks, dish out soft serve, and motivate STEM kids:

Harvard University: ABB Robot Builds Undulating Wall

Ohio Northern University: Kuka KR3 serves ice cream!

Los Alamos High School: Fanuc LR Mate 200iB

Hands-on Robotics Education:

Robotics education is arguably one of today's most exciting educational movements. It is bringing a hands-on, project-oriented, team-building approach to learning.

Just in time too. I had the privilege of interviewing Tad Douce, a Middle School teacher here in Marion, Ohio about robot education. He had some interesting perspectives about educational priorities in the schools today. He believes that students need hands-on education now more than ever. That’s part of the reason he founded the National Robotics Challenge, one of the many robotics competitions taking the U.S. by storm.

This 12-category event is happening just down the street from our RobotWorx facility on March 7th and 8th. It’s for students of all ages – from elementary to college. Interested? You can still register throughout the month of February.

We're really excited about the competition and the good it is doing. One of our engineers is lending a hand by judging at this year’s NRC. We’re also opening our building for NRC tours on March 7th.

Introducing the WiiBot

This sword-wielding, tennis playing robot has folks in my office talking. Two guys programmed an industrial robot to work with a Nintendo controller. Pretty cool concept, despite the slight lag time.

Check it out! Neiman Marcus has decorated their main shop window in Dallas, Texas with industrial robots! All three Fanuc robots are wearing red Santa hats and working to trim a giant aluminum tree. Here's a bigger picture: www.hgtv.com

You still have time to catch a glimpse of the HGTV show about this and other window displays on December 23 – 5 PM ET/PT or December 25 – 11 AM ET/PT

It's movie time...First of all, I found this incredible video of a robot solving a Rubik's cube. This method certainly beats taking off the stickers..or taking the cube apart to solve it. :)

At my company we videotape our robot systems performing customized applications. Here are my favorites:

> Check out this dual system of Panasonic PerformArc 350: robots:Welding. There is a certain grace to this workcell.

> This ABB IRB 340 Flexpicker robot reminds me of a spider.

> This gripper video is mesmerizing.

> Finally, this robot is a neat stacker. Robots are making inroads when it comes to palletizing.

This is a different kind of installation art. A small group of artists are trying to create more situations for the public to interact with industrial robots. The mini article I wrote for our website www.robots.com follows.

Kuka Robot Writes Bible in 15th Century Font

A group of German artists called Robotlab have programmed a Kuka robot to write the entire Bible. The Bios [Bible] project demonstrates the dexterity and precision of today's industrial robots. Using a pen for EOAT, this robot scribe is writing in a calligraphy version of a 15th century German font known as Schwabacher. The result is a Martin Luther-period Bible with both Old and New Testaments - written on a long scroll of paper. The three artists that make up Robotlab believe in exhibits with robots that do the unexpected. "We try to create an experimental forum in which the public has the opportunity to interact with robots," the Robotlab website said. While there are nearly a million robots in the world, people rarely have any firsthand experience with them. Robotlab wants to make it possible for people to have a deeper understanding of real-life robots.

This isn't Robotlab's first project using industrial robots. The Bible-writing robot has friends. Other Kuka robots have been used by Robotlab to draw portraits and profiles of individual people - using video camera technology to capture data. The "Empathizer" robot project included robots that moved in response to imputed brain voltages - creating a unique connection between human and robot. The "Well-tempered Robot" was an exhibit in 2005 where a robot became a musical instrument - generating sounds with every movement. Visitors controlled the musical robot with an interface. Other performances have inclued Kuka KR15/2 robots that dance and DJ robots that produce new sounds from vinyl records.

Robotlab's initial exhibit in 2000 was entitled "Aesthetics and Power." For this project, the artists placed a moving Kuka KR 125 in the foyer of the Center of Art and Media Karlsruhe.

For more Robotlab project information, visit www.robotlab.de. Find pictures of the Bios project here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcwathieu/sets/ 72157601299541354/.

Article About Used Robots Appears in Fortune Small Business Magazine

RobotWorx was recently profiled in Fortune Small Business magazine. The article, Born Again Robots, appears in the October 2007 issue. It explores the used robot market and the advantage of buying reconditioned robotic equipment.

RobotWorx president Keith Wanner said he is very pleased with the article and appreciates the magazine's focus. "FSB really understands what a small business owner goes through and they gear everything to fit those needs," he said. "Small businesses make up about 90% of the market; it's a big percentage but sometimes it gets overlooked by the media."

The article is the product of multiple phone interviews, fact checks, and a photo shoot with a NYC photographer. "We are really impressed by the amount of work and effort they put into it," Wanner said.

Fortune Small Business is a daughter magazine to Fortune. Both are published by Time, Inc.