A Robot That Helps Languages Live
Danielle Boyer is Ojibwe, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. She started teaching science to other kids when she was just 10 years old. When she was a teenager, her younger sister wanted to join a robotics team, but it cost hundreds of dollars. Danielle decided that every kid should be able to build a robot, no matter how much money their family has.
In 2019, when she was 18, Danielle started a nonprofit called The STEAM Connection. It sends robot kits to kids for free. One of her robots, called EKGAR (short for "Every Kid Gets A Robot"), costs less than $20 to build. Her robots are made with a 3D printer that uses recycled plastic.
Danielle's best-known invention is the SkoBot, a small robot that you wear on your shoulder. Many Native languages have only a few fluent speakers left. The SkoBot helps kids learn them. When a student says a cue word, the robot listens, figures out which word it heard, and plays a recording of a fluent speaker saying words or phrases in the language.
Every robot works the same basic way. It takes in input (like a sound), processes it (decides what the input means), and gives an output (like playing a recording). Danielle teaches Native students to build and program SkoBots themselves.
Words to Know
- input: Information that goes into a machine, like a sound, a button press, or a picture.
- output: What a machine does or gives back after it processes the input, like a sound or a light.
- 3D printer: A machine that builds a solid object one thin layer at a time from a computer design.
