In this year's RoboCup@Home Education Standard Platform competition, the team from Hangzhou Dianzi University, which participated for the first time, won multiple awards including the Best Technical Paper Award and the People's Choice Award. SoftBank Robotics had the privilege to interview Teacher Fu Lin from Hangzhou Dianzi University, who shared with us the story between the students and the robot Pepper.
RoboCup@Home Education is an international educational competition platform event organized by the RoboCup competition organizing committee, aimed at cultivating beginner teams to address the challenges of RoboCup@Home and promoting newcomers' abilities in developing and learning about humanoid robots like Pepper within a specified timeframe. The entire event is conducted in English, providing students with a very rare experience.
The Birth of "Imperial Dad"
Teacher Fu Lin expressed that the university students winning awards in this competition was an unexpected surprise. The participating team wastemporarily formed by sophomore and junior students, some from an intelligent robot experiment course and others who usually work on development projects with teachers. However, their overall exposure to Pepper robots was relatively short. Previously, the team from Hangzhou Dianzi University did not have much experience with similar international competitions, and for many students, this was their first encounter with an international robotics competition, investing a significant amount of time and effort. The outstanding results have motivated them to pay more attention to other related domestic and international events in the future and continue developing Pepper.
Among the many participating teams, the team name from Hangzhou Dianzi University was the most eye-catching. Teacher Fu told us that "Imperial Dad" was initially one of the names students gave to distinguish among several Pepper robots, along with "Sixth Princess." When choosing the team name for the competition, they continued to use this name that is full of personality and Chinese characteristics.
Active Collaboration and Student Initiative
During the competition, teamwork is crucial. The team leader first divides the overall project and then assigns tasks based on each person's strengths. "It's more about leveraging the students' initiative; I just act as a provider of resources, or a guide and assistant," said Teacher Fu.
For the students, the biggest gain from this competition was not the awards but the grasp of a project's entire lifecycle, including requirement analysis, goal design, task allocation, and plan adjustment. While using the standard platform Pepper repeatedly, they consolidated their classroom knowledge and deepened their understanding of intelligent science and technology. The students indicated that the competition significantly improved their Python programming skills and English oral expression. They also felt the charm of the Pepper robot in this process. Due to the rushed preparation this year, many ideas were not realized, and they look forward to continuing to develop Pepper in the future.
Teacher Fu Lin said, "It's the first time participating in such an international competition, which has provided the students with valuable experience and revealed their shortcomings. I am very grateful for the thoughtful organization of the event and the support and assistance from SoftBank Robotics. I also appreciate the students' efforts in this competition, and I am happy for their achievements."
Pepper: A Constant Companion In and Out of Classroom
Pepper is a humanoid robot that eliminates the complex process of building hardware, allowing students to focus on creative breakthroughs and innovations in robot behavior development and programming. In the experimental course cooperating with SoftBank, Teacher Fu "flipped the classroom," allowing students to form groups and choose project content based on interest and ability. They developed applications based on Pepper's interactive and service advantages, creating interesting applications like web page music requests and singing and dancing performances. This teaching method, different from following an experiment manual step by step, motivates students to plan their learning of potentially involved modules and fosters good interaction with teachers, discussing difficulties and gains in development.
In the School of Automation (School of Artificial Intelligence), the cute Pepper and NAO also serve as "spokespersons" for recruitment, taking on the responsibilities of external publicity and navigation introduction.
Valuing Programming Education for a Robust Future in Artificial Intelligence
In recent years, artificial intelligence services and products like smart homes have integrated into people's lives, and the country is vigorously promoting the development of related industry education. Through curriculum reform, programming education can enhance students' innovative awareness and form a general concept of individual and team engineering systems. "This is a very good era. I hope that our students in the School of Artificial Intelligence will have keen thoughts on the development of technology, can reasonably arrange their time to take the initiative to learn, and absorb knowledge like a sponge," Teacher Fu expressed her expectations for the students. She also said she is very confident in the development of this field and believes that artificial intelligence will play a significant role in transforming the human environment and liberating productivity.
SoftBank Robotics' Pepper and NAO, as the designated standard platforms for the RoboCup 2022 Robot World Cup, are committed to helping more domestic universities and teams participate in international competitions, exploring more applications of robots with teachers and students. By collecting more first-hand feedback and experiences from users, SoftBank Robotics will further optimize and improve its products in the future, contributing to the development of artificial intelligence.