The Cheatham County School District has introduced its first mobile interactive robot on Tuesday. It is intended for long-term homebound students from Sycamore Middle School.
In December, the students approached the Cheatham County School Board about their idea to help their fellow homebound student. They said that the robot would allow the student to navigate the halls of SMS and participate in class through video without having to leave their home.
The School Board surprised teacher Beth Stokes and her students with the Double 2 robot to show their full support for the students' initiative. The Double 2 robot is specially designed to help students learn from anywhere. It has helped save schools thousands of dollars and reaching more students.
The Double 2 robot's simple design included a camera kit, audio kit, iPad Air, 6-8 hour battery, lateral stability control, charging dock, dual kickstands and self-balancing feature. It is equipped with a mechanism for shock absorption. It helps maintain its lateral stability as it goes over common obstacles in a classroom setting, such as cords, bumps, or a change in threshold.
The power drive enables the robot to go up to 80 percent faster than normal driving speed. Its 5 megapixel camera kit includes a 150 degree wide-angle lens that can increase the field of view by 70 percent both left and right sides.
Interim Director of Schools Stacy Brinkley thanks the students for bringing up the idea and it shows how the students from SMS are striving to make experiences for all students better. She also said that they were fortunate to have teachers like Mrs. Stokes that give the students project-based learning experiences.
Stokes said that she is proud of her students' effort. She showed her appreciation to the SMS administrator and the School Board by thanking them for listening to and believing in her students.
The new robot will be named Alpha, representing the district's first robot and project that was student-inspired according to The Tennessean.
