ALEX DANILO: They didn't know what to expect.
And I kind of thought when we went there,
they might find this really boring.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So you know where we are, people?
This in Sydney Olympic Stadium, and this
is like the future of Olympics.
Never mind human competition, this is robot against robot.
This is like machines.
When I was a kid, I think like any kid
you don't really know what you want to do when you grow up.
I don't think I ever planned to be an engineer.
I think just going into engineering
was just a side effect of enjoying building things.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So these teams are putting their robots together.
This is like a real robot right here.
Check this out.
Let's have a look.
Mainly it's like actuators.
There's motors here.
There's stressed out cables.
There's chains.
There's all these control wires.
Servers are probably in there somewhere.
Wow.
Would you like to build a robot?
BOY: I don't think so.
ALEX DANILO: Why not?
BOY: Because they could electrocute people.
ALEX DANILO: When kids see robots or think of robots,
they probably think of movies and cartoons,
and that's just not reality.
Today cars are built with robots.
A lot of the consumer electronics you buy
is built with robots.
Tons of things are built with robots,
and they are not only changing the world,
they'll continue to change the world.
And if you take the kids to actually show them
what they do, they might get interested,
and they might want to actually do stuff themselves.
So this is a LEGO brick which controls everything.
And there's cables connecting to all the motors and stuff,
and they're letting all sorts of stuff.
Is it fun?
GIRL: Yes.
ALEX DANILO: What do you think?
BOY: I think so.
ALEX DANILO: I think they're having fun.
BOY: How do you program these robots to be so efficient?
WOMAN: The team spent a lot of time
ensuring that they keep their robots as simple as possible
because simple is a very good engineering practice.
BOY: OK.
ALEX DANILO: What did you like most
about the robotics competition?
BOY: I liked everything.
Nothing was my favorite.
GIRL: I liked making the LEGO Rover.
It was really fun.
ALEX DANILO: Right.
So did your LEGO robot go really well?
GIRL: Yes.
ALEX DANILO: Do you think you'll build bigger robots when
you're a bit older?
GIRL: Yes.
ALEX DANILO: There were just smiles on their faces--
excited.
It just opened their eyes to a new world,
and that world is the world of technology, and it can be fun.
And unless you see it for yourself, you can never know.
OK, so there you have it, kids.
The First Robotics Competition is a great way
to get into robotics.
These little ones, they can make LEGO robots.
The big kids can make bigger robots.
So what do you guys think?
Shall we go build a robot?
BOY AND GIRL: Yeah!
ALEX DANILO: Come on.
[MUSIC PLAYING]