Elementary school students fight COVID-19 with self-built Lego disinfectant dispenser
Record ID:
1462644
Elementary school students fight COVID-19 with self-built Lego disinfectant dispenser
- Title: Elementary school students fight COVID-19 with self-built Lego disinfectant dispenser
- Date: 9th March 2020
- Summary: STUDENTS PICKING PARTS FROM TRAY STUDENTS LOOKING ON (MUTE) TIME-LAPSE SHOWING ASSEMBLY OF DISPENSER DISPENSER SPRAYING DISINFECTANT AND PLAYING RECORDED VOICE SAYING (Mandarin): "WASHING HANDS IS SUPER" (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 6TH GRADE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT, 12, CHEN PO-YU, SAYING: "We mainly used the main computer, the big motor and this ultra-sonic thing made by Lego. The reason why me made this alcohol disinfectant robot is because of the recent outbreak of the neo-coronavirus epidemic. So the teachers thought of the idea to make a robot to help with epidemic prevention and came up the with the alcohol disinfectant robot. After we completed (the robot) and put it outside for the students to use, all the students thought it's very cool and were even more willing to disinfect (their hands)." VARIOUS OF STUDENTS ASSEMBLING DISPENSER (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) LEGO ROBOTICS COACH, 31, TSAI TE-WEI, SAYING: "Basically, the children already really like to play with Lego, so when they see this (robot) they are quickly very interested. The hardest things to teach them are mechanical structure, accelerating and decelerating gearwheels and other basic concepts. These need time for them to comprehend. Then there is also the application design, the logic behind writing applications (for the robot)." VARIOUS OF STUDENTS ASSEMBLING DISPENSER VARIOUS OF STUDENT USING DISPENSER (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 5TH GRADE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT, 11, HUANG YI-CHING, SAYING: "Our alcohol disinfectant robot is mainly assembled with Lego's blocks and application software to control the motor and the ultrasonic sensors. When the ultrasound senses the hands, it sprays the disinfectant alcohol to help us with disinfection." VARIOUS OF STUDENTS USING ALCOHOL DISINFECTANT ROBOT STUDENTS JUMPING AROUND AND CHEERING NEXT TO ROBOT
- Embargoed: 23rd March 2020 14:26
- Keywords: CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 DISINFECTANT DISPENSER HEALTH KAOHSIUNG LEGO MAKER ROBOT TAIWAN
- Location: KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN
- City: KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN
- Country: Taiwan
- Topics: Health/Medicine,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA003C4BWG1Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Students at an elementary school in the remote Linyuan District of Taiwan's most southern city Kaohsiung have found their own way to fight the coronavirus and stay ahead of the curve in epidemic prevention.
Kids ranging from six to twelve years old use every school break and any chance they can get to line up to use the self-built alcohol disinfectant robot that some of their peers have assembled under the guidance of their Lego robotics coach.
"Washing hands is super," shouts a recorded voice after the dispenser senses a pair of hands in front of its ultrasonic sensor and dispenses alcohol disinfectant from a spray bottle by pulling back its handle with a motors and gearwheels mechanism. Next to the robot, on the Lego base plate, there are scenes crafted by the younger students showing various situations that require the washing of hands: an operation table in a hospital, a toilet and a flower garden.
One year after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, teachers at Linyuan Elementary School decided the students should learn about the basic principles of robotics. The school is situated in an industrial area, dominated by the petrochemical sector, and has seen several industrial explosions over the years. Therefore, teachers wanted to teach the children to be able to solve problems in their hometown in the future - such as fire, air pollution and gas explosions.
Since then, the school has represented Taiwan in many international competitions abroad and won several prizes with its robotics club.
(Production: Fabian Hamacher) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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