How A Nonprofit Brings Humanoid Robotics To Underserved Students…

Humanoid robots are getting real, and the biggest question isn’t “Can they dance?” It’s “Who’s going to understand them well enough to build, program, and fix them?” We sit down with Dr. Elliot Hefling Jr., founder of Reality Tech Academy, to talk about why he brings full-scale humanoid robots into education and why waiting until college is too late for most students, especially in underserved communities.

We get into what it looks like to teach robotics with Pepper and NAO using Python programming, live demos, and simulation tools like Choregraphe. Dr. Hefling explains his “plant the seed” approach: show students how the code works behind the scenes, let them test wild ideas safely, and help them see technology as something they can create. We also explore what social robots can realistically do today, from multilingual interaction to machine vision, obstacle avoidance, indoor navigation, and even early ideas for elder care support like reminders, guidance, and simple object retrieval within payload limits.

Along the way, we zoom out to the workforce problem: if humanoid robots become as common as computers, we’ll need an entire pipeline of people who can troubleshoot and maintain them. That’s where the episode lands, on becoming producers not just users, and building local skills so robotics doesn’t become a black box. Subscribe, share this with a friend in STEM education or industrial automation, and leave a review with one thing you’d want a humanoid robot to help with.

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Ali G: https://linkedin.com/in/alicia-gilpin-ali-g-process-controls-engineering

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Music by: Sam Janes

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00:00 - Episode Welcome And Guest Intro

02:07 - Why Bring Humanoid Robots To Kids

04:52 - From Google Maps To Computer Science

07:57 - Mobile Robotics Classes For Underserved Students

12:52 - Programming Robots With Imagination And Python

20:57 - Pepper, NAO, Vision, And Elder Care Ideas

37:07 - Robots At Home Need Skilled Humans

50:27 - How To Join Classes And Camps

WEBVTT

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Welcome to Automation Ladies, the only podcast we know of where girls talk about industrial automation.

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Hello.

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Welcome to Automation Ladies episode I Have No Idea.

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We can get that figured out after the fact.

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But we're here with Dr.

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Elliot Hefling Jr.

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And we are excited to talk to him about humanoid robots and how he's bringing that to education in the US.

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But before that, we also have Courtney Fernandez, the other automation lady.

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Nikki Gonzalez is not going to join us on this particular episode.

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So we'll miss her.

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But yeah, if you want to give us an introduction to you, Dr.

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Heflin, that would be a good way to for us to start and then kind of tell us how you got where you are.

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Okay, just to just to give you guys a I guess a brief background, like Lee had mentioned, I started um Reality Tech Academy about 10 years ago.

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And the reason I started the Academy because I noticed a I guess say a gap.

00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:14.300
I noticed a gap in what our children were being provided for as DEM technology.

00:02:14.939 --> 00:02:39.099
And I've entered into humanoid robotics because just to be candid, I want to separate myself away from the competition, and everyone else is just using the small Lego um education blocks or some type of um we can say um robotics kit.

00:02:40.139 --> 00:02:49.259
And I thought it would be better to be able to give the students access to the real thing.

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The real thing that they actually will be doing once they leave to the work field or once they're introduced in the collegiate years um to robotics.

00:03:01.580 --> 00:03:03.020
This is what they'll be doing.

00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:05.819
They won't be doing drag and drop blocks.

00:03:06.140 --> 00:03:09.819
So to me, it was the disservice, to be honest.

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So that's how it came about.

00:03:13.580 --> 00:03:21.500
And the really the real killer about it is I was reading a magazine what sparked it all.

00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:28.700
I was reading the market magazine, and the magazine has stated that um America U.S.

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was number four in the nation in robotics.

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And I was like, well, since my previous background was in trap, I know that number four is never mentioned.

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So it kind of kind of kind of hit me kind of hard.

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So I was like, okay, well, let's do something about that.

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Let's be, I guess you could say, the catalyst of what's going on.

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Let's make this happen.

00:03:56.860 --> 00:03:58.540
And that's how it came about.

00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:04.939
What got you interested in robotics or even, you know, STEM to begin with?

00:04:05.260 --> 00:04:07.740
Okay, it it happened a long time ago.

00:04:07.900 --> 00:04:09.659
It happened a long time ago.

00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:13.659
Um, I guess you could say when I first entered college.

00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:23.659
When I first entered college, um in my, I guess you could say, ninth or eighth year, I was walking down the hall, just to be honest with you.

00:04:23.899 --> 00:04:33.420
Walking down the hall, and I was being nosy and just leaned into a professor's class, and he had something up on the projector.

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And it was Google Maps, before we even knew what Google Maps was.

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So they sent it to him as a prototype, you know, to get his feedback or whatever.

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And I was like, um, what is that?

00:04:46.219 --> 00:04:52.699
You know, he was like, oh, step in for a second, and he asked me, he said, Where's your what's your address?

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And I told him my address, and he pulled my block up.

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I said, Oh, this is amazing.

00:05:00.540 --> 00:05:01.500
This is amazing.

00:05:01.659 --> 00:05:05.900
I said, Do not, do not leave me out of the loop.

00:05:06.060 --> 00:05:08.540
So ever since then I've been crazy about computing.

00:05:09.340 --> 00:05:21.660
When Google Maps first came out, you would be Googling stuff, you know, that you knew, like you'd be looking for school, or you'd be looking for your where you work or your house and zooming in on it, like, yeah, that's it, or no, that was it like a year ago.

00:05:22.060 --> 00:05:23.660
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:29.180
Well, remember, this was before it was even released to the public when I first seen it.

00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:31.420
Yeah, that had to be an incredible feeling.

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Yes.

00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:34.699
So where did you where did you go to school?

00:05:35.019 --> 00:05:36.620
And what did you study?

00:05:36.939 --> 00:05:49.420
Um, the first, the first year I went to school, I mean, the first school I went to um was the new University of Milwaukee, UWM, and I studied computer science there.

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And that's where I met the guy um when I was talking about computers.

00:05:54.300 --> 00:06:12.699
That's where I met him, and then I transferred to um Jackson State University, which was in Mississippi, and I did my rest of my undergrad there and my master's there, and then I went to the University of Phoenix for my doctoral.

00:06:13.579 --> 00:06:19.180
So it ended up being totality, um, 11 years of college.

00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:20.379
Wow.

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Nice work.

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What about the kids that you're teaching?

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Can you talk more about that?

00:06:25.340 --> 00:06:25.980
Okay, yes.

00:06:26.060 --> 00:06:30.459
The kids that I'm teaching, it's usually, I guess you could say, low income.

00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:33.500
I'll put it that low-income students.

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And what I wanted to do is I noticed also through my research in the beginning that there was one other institution here in Georgia that had this type of technology, but it was at collegiate level.

00:06:50.139 --> 00:06:53.579
And like I mentioned before, that's too late for me.

00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:54.699
That's my opinion.

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It's too late.

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You know how fast technology changes.

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It's too late.

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And what I ended up doing is I recognize that a lot of these different schools did not have this type of technology because of the cost, because of the cost factor.

00:07:12.139 --> 00:07:16.860
So I purchased the robots myself to take away the cost factor for.

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So now I get an opportunity to expose these different children in the different districts to this type of technology by taking it from school to school, being mobile, so to speak.

00:07:30.220 --> 00:07:32.699
Okay, where have you taken this robot?

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I've taken this robot, um, you can say basically all over Georgia.

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I've been to Alabama, I didn't been to California.

00:07:40.939 --> 00:07:43.660
It's it's it's so many different places.

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And then if I just if I mention online, I do online courses also.

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I've been to Uganda, Tasmania, Tasmanania, however you pronounce that.

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I know it's not going to be feed.

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And and I've been pretty much, you can say international for traveling, I mean, far as exposing children to what I do.

00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:12.220
How do people actually sign up for your classes?

00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:15.500
Like how do you find where you're gonna go next?

00:08:15.740 --> 00:08:17.579
Do people sign up with you or do you think that's a good idea?

00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:20.300
Yeah, they signed up, they signed up through my website.

00:08:20.459 --> 00:08:43.179
I have a website that's called reality texts with a s.org because I am a 501c3 and they usually contact me through there and they pick out the format that they want, if it's in person or online or whatever, that's how it's all selected, I guess you can say.

00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:48.860
So, how many students can you accommodate on uh like at a time on a single robot?

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If you have like a bunch, do you do more than one class?

00:08:51.659 --> 00:08:56.059
No, yes, I do more than one class, but I like to keep it to a minimum.

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I like to keep it to a minimum of say probably 12 to 15 kids because I want to give them the individual attention that they may need to, you know, to grasp all the different concepts of you know robotics.

00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:17.419
So, because I believe the um the only prerequisite you need is to know how to read.

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That's that's me.

00:09:19.019 --> 00:09:20.539
I agree wholeheartedly.

00:09:20.699 --> 00:09:26.779
I have never taught humanoid robotics, but uh I have taught like industrial robotics.

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And I yeah, I don't I think all you need to be all you need, like your only prerequisite really is to be willing to follow safety precautions.

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Yes.

00:09:43.419 --> 00:09:43.659
Yeah.

00:09:44.699 --> 00:09:44.859
Yes.

00:09:45.179 --> 00:09:57.899
And that's not necessarily always appropriate to bring young children uh, you know, in front of industrial robots, but I have been able to bring it in front of like middle school age kids.

00:09:58.219 --> 00:10:11.819
And I think that group is the most receptive uh to like you know, new advancements in STEM or you know, robotics that are just they'll think of things to do with it that we haven't thought of.

00:10:11.899 --> 00:10:13.500
And that's mind-blowing to me.

00:10:13.739 --> 00:10:20.699
Have you had any experiences like that where you put it in front of a group of students and they just blew your mind at what they thought to make the robot do?

00:10:21.019 --> 00:10:22.620
Oh, yeah, so I have them all the time.

00:10:22.699 --> 00:10:23.979
I I I welcome that.

00:10:24.139 --> 00:10:31.500
I welcome all the different, you know, things that you think it might can do, or you wonder if it can do.

00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:34.539
We we explore all those different avenues.

00:10:34.779 --> 00:10:43.179
But yeah, going back to what you said, the reason I like to expose them early is because I like to plant the seed.

00:10:43.339 --> 00:11:07.500
I'm not saying that elementary students will be able to, you know, perform different tasks or whatever on the robot, because usually when I have that type of age group, I usually have the robots roped off so they can't be touched, in a sense, but I still let them know, okay, I seen this.

00:11:07.739 --> 00:11:11.579
I seen it operate, I seen how the code is written.

00:11:11.899 --> 00:11:12.859
You understand what I mean?

00:11:12.939 --> 00:11:14.219
That seed is planning.

00:11:14.620 --> 00:11:16.379
I don't care what age they are.

00:11:16.699 --> 00:11:18.699
If you show it to them, they are C.

00:11:18.939 --> 00:11:25.339
And then I talk to them about, okay, we're, okay, we just seen the robot dance.

00:11:25.659 --> 00:11:27.259
How did it dance?

00:11:27.739 --> 00:11:30.859
This is how I made it dance and go from there.

00:11:31.099 --> 00:11:40.139
So what type, aside from dancing, like what type of things do you have uh different age group students do with the robot?

00:11:40.539 --> 00:11:43.899
It's it depends on it depends on the school's theme.

00:11:44.139 --> 00:11:46.299
It depends on what they want to accomplish.

00:11:46.459 --> 00:11:47.979
The robot can do anything.

00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:57.419
The robot can do anything, and when I say anything, I don't, you know, we can take away anything that um has to do with gravity, of course.

00:11:57.579 --> 00:12:00.620
It won't be able to do a backflip or anything like that.

00:12:00.859 --> 00:12:03.659
But it speaks 32 different languages.

00:12:03.979 --> 00:12:06.219
It can I can make it correspond.

00:12:06.379 --> 00:12:18.859
I have an app that I've been um using that I can correspond with ChatGTP so I can have a full conversation with the robot, just like I'm having a conversation with you right now.

00:12:19.259 --> 00:12:27.179
So that's that's one of the newer um features that's been introduced to robotics.

00:12:27.419 --> 00:12:38.379
And the beautiful thing about robotics that I love is when when you um when they create something for one robot, it's actually for all robots.

00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:54.779
I used to say a rising tide floats all boats, because uh I always used to think that was a really cheesy saying, but like in certain avenues of technology, especially robotics, like when one company makes an advancement, a lot of companies will end up benefiting from whatever that advancing is.

00:12:55.019 --> 00:12:55.339
Yes.

00:12:56.699 --> 00:13:08.059
I I enjoy seeing that as well, just in technology in general, because even when companies compete, you still want together for the technology to win overall.

00:13:08.459 --> 00:13:08.939
Yes.

00:13:09.179 --> 00:13:22.139
Because even though, you know, and I I admitted this to my colleagues a lot that, you know, even though another entity might create something, they can't be everywhere.

00:13:22.859 --> 00:13:24.779
So they can't be everywhere.

00:13:24.939 --> 00:13:26.139
I can't be everywhere.

00:13:26.299 --> 00:13:28.219
So why not share the knowledge?

00:13:28.379 --> 00:13:28.859
Why not?

00:13:29.179 --> 00:13:30.939
That's the abundance mindset.

00:13:31.179 --> 00:13:31.500
Yeah.

00:13:31.739 --> 00:13:31.979
Yeah.

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You see, the scarcity mindset is where people think like I invented this and I'm entitled to all the benefits of it.

00:13:37.579 --> 00:13:46.379
But really, when other companies benefit from it as well and they sell it and they promote it, then your business in your region where you want it to grow is also growing.

00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:47.500
So Yes.

00:13:47.819 --> 00:13:51.019
And I I kind of um debunked that.

00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:56.379
I debunked that theory right away when I people people say, Well, I invented this.

00:13:56.459 --> 00:14:11.500
I said, Well, you know, mostly all the features and mostly all the components that come that's inside a robot, no matter what it is, a service robot, India, industrial robot, or humanoid robot, it's all taken from the human body.

00:14:11.579 --> 00:14:13.019
So who really invented this?

00:14:13.179 --> 00:14:14.779
And I just leave it along.

00:14:16.379 --> 00:14:22.059
So we're just copying what we're made out of.

00:14:22.219 --> 00:14:25.099
So it's funny to me.

00:14:25.419 --> 00:14:26.699
I've always wondered about that.

00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:40.539
Uh, and I'm curious what your take on this is, because there is a lot of um discussion in in humanoid robotics right now about uh general robotics versus purpose-built robotics.

00:14:40.859 --> 00:14:49.259
And if we want uh to do something efficiently, you know, our human bodies are not necessarily the most efficient thing to do a task.

00:14:49.419 --> 00:15:04.139
Um, you know, like a, you know, there's other machinery um that doesn't look like a human body that can sometimes do the task, but then it's a purpose-built machine versus a machine that's shaped like a human that can do many things, but maybe not quite as well as a human.

00:15:04.299 --> 00:15:12.459
So I'm curious where you stand on the a generalized human uh doing a task versus a purpose-built machine doing a task.

00:15:12.859 --> 00:15:28.859
Well, I pretty much like the um, I guess you can say the generalized purpose because I the pro, this is just me, it might be a bias or anything, but I like buying technology that I can program.

00:15:29.579 --> 00:15:32.939
That I can, you know, I can use my imagination.

00:15:33.179 --> 00:15:38.939
If it uses um Python, so to speak, I can use Python to make it do certain tasks.

00:15:39.099 --> 00:15:48.219
I really don't want to spend money on just something that's just really just focused on moving a box from big point A to point B.

00:15:48.459 --> 00:15:50.699
That's that's not enough for me.

00:15:50.859 --> 00:15:51.659
I don't know.

00:15:51.899 --> 00:15:54.859
So it's it's dependent on the industry.

00:15:56.459 --> 00:16:15.099
That's what you need, that's what you need, you know, because I've taken um I've taken students to um Kia, and they got an opportunity to see industrial robots move one pallet, you know, from one side of the warehouse to another and to a destinated spot.

00:16:15.339 --> 00:16:17.339
So I understand the need.

00:16:17.500 --> 00:16:20.139
If that's what you needed for it, that's what you needed for.

00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:24.139
Oh, and I like your your take on it, you know, being customizable.

00:16:24.219 --> 00:16:25.339
It's kind of Yes.

00:16:25.579 --> 00:16:29.019
I always like we I like robots, but also PLCs, right?

00:16:29.099 --> 00:16:36.219
Like you buy a PLC and it doesn't have programming on it, you can make it do whatever you want to do when you write the program and add hardware to it as needed.

00:16:36.379 --> 00:16:40.459
But yeah, the ability to customize a solution is huge.

00:16:40.699 --> 00:16:41.099
Yes.

00:16:41.579 --> 00:16:42.699
I I enjoy that.

00:16:42.779 --> 00:16:44.620
I've seen both sides of the arguments.

00:16:44.859 --> 00:16:51.500
And I don't actually agree with one or the other because I'll change my mind like every time I have a conversation.

00:16:51.899 --> 00:17:07.819
It and like like you had mentioned before, um we're we're able to now take the um, you know, if someone else invents something, we won't be able to implement that in the robot that only does one thing, so to speak.

00:17:08.299 --> 00:17:13.099
So that's why I love it because we know technology is growing.

00:17:13.180 --> 00:17:18.859
We know someone is out there right now trying to make humanoid robots do a different task.

00:17:19.180 --> 00:17:26.460
So when that task comes out, I want to be able to send it to the CPU of this robot and have it done.

00:17:26.779 --> 00:17:31.500
Or if a product plugs into one robot, it shouldn't just be made for that one robot.

00:17:31.980 --> 00:17:33.339
It it depends.

00:17:37.500 --> 00:17:39.259
No, it depends on what you're using it for.

00:17:39.420 --> 00:17:41.900
To me, that's you know what you're using it for.

00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:44.059
I use it for educational purposes.

00:17:44.299 --> 00:17:50.700
So we know when you when you um enter in a classroom, the student might ask anything.

00:17:51.019 --> 00:18:01.660
So if they're only if the robot can only move a box from A to B, that kind of limits my you know, the experience I want to give the student.

00:18:01.980 --> 00:18:04.460
Yeah, the education side of it's different.

00:18:04.700 --> 00:18:06.140
I think in the industry side.

00:18:06.299 --> 00:18:11.180
We want to mimic industry, but also once you get to industry, all the fun, not the fun is gone.

00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:12.299
I don't want to put it that way.

00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:14.299
But like now it's time to do work.

00:18:14.539 --> 00:18:21.259
You know, it's just an education where you have time to actually ask questions and you know, what else can this do?

00:18:21.580 --> 00:18:23.820
And I still find myself doing that in industry too.

00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:31.019
Like I have a job to do and I need to make it move, like you said, I need to make it move the pallet from the side of the conveyor to that side of the conveyor, but what else could it do?

00:18:31.180 --> 00:18:31.340
Yes.

00:18:34.060 --> 00:18:37.259
Education is a great time for that to actually be happening.

00:18:37.580 --> 00:18:37.820
Yeah.

00:18:38.380 --> 00:18:42.380
I also read in your description that you use the now robots as well.

00:18:42.539 --> 00:18:51.500
Or how I've seen that that's uh like I prior to where I'm at now, I actually worked for United Robotics Group.

00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:56.140
Um, and they were doing uh RoboCup, which is okay.

00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:56.460
Yes.

00:18:56.539 --> 00:18:57.500
I'm familiar with that.

00:18:57.740 --> 00:18:58.380
Soccer.

00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:00.380
Yeah, where they make them play soccer.

00:19:00.539 --> 00:19:03.259
So I mean, have you participated in that at any level?

00:19:03.340 --> 00:19:06.220
Or do you do you have the kids program to play soccer?

00:19:06.299 --> 00:19:07.900
And if not, like what do they do?

00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:13.420
No, I I usually I usually teach them the I wouldn't say just the fundamentals.

00:19:13.580 --> 00:19:15.100
I teach them how to program it.

00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:30.620
I teach them how to write Python to make it do different activities, and we do different exercises at the end of the course to see what their imagination came up with, to see what they try to do.

00:19:32.539 --> 00:19:38.539
Normally, you know, we'll do all of this, we'll do all this on um choreography first, right?

00:19:38.620 --> 00:19:48.060
The the virtual, the virtual atmosphere, we'll do that first and see if it works, and then we just go on from there.

00:19:48.220 --> 00:19:54.779
But it's it's not really locked into one particular pass.

00:19:55.900 --> 00:20:04.460
You know, I might have one school call me and say, okay, well, we're having a we're having the Spanish thing.

00:20:04.620 --> 00:20:06.380
We're having a Spanish thing.

00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:13.019
So I will get the robot to conduct the demonstration all in Spanish.

00:20:13.420 --> 00:20:14.620
Are you understanding me?

00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:17.180
So it depends on what the theme is.

00:20:17.420 --> 00:20:22.700
That's why I love to be able to do the plug-in, like you mentioned.

00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:36.700
If you guys, I don't know how far you dug, but I've actually written a book about um um what do um collegiate students know are ninth graders coming into college?

00:20:36.860 --> 00:20:40.860
Are they really um technologically savvy?

00:20:41.340 --> 00:20:45.740
And through my research, unfortunately, it's been a no.

00:20:45.980 --> 00:20:47.019
That's too bad.

00:20:48.140 --> 00:21:08.060
I think that's because they don't really learn to use the technology that they're like they're just busy doom scrolling on it, or they don't understand what's going on behind it, or what do you really think that's because we assume that they are really, they really know how to navigate because you see our children playing on the computer for five or six hours straight.

00:21:08.299 --> 00:21:14.539
So we might we automatically assume that they know what to do with the computer.

00:21:14.779 --> 00:21:21.580
And like I said through my research, and all the people that I interviewed were professors.

00:21:22.299 --> 00:21:26.779
So I really, you know, I got it from I wanted to get it from the horse's mouth.

00:21:27.259 --> 00:21:28.220
He said no.

00:21:28.380 --> 00:21:31.100
They said no, they're not prepared.

00:21:31.340 --> 00:21:34.220
Can you do uh like a five-minute introduction to Pepper?

00:21:34.299 --> 00:21:35.980
I'm not familiar with Pepper.

00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:41.259
Oh no, um, Pepper is what they call a social robot.

00:21:41.500 --> 00:21:51.340
A social robot, um Pepper was invented to, I guess you could say, interact with human beings on a social level.

00:21:51.580 --> 00:21:57.740
But like I mentioned, there's so many different plugins that you can do to make her do certain things.

00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:00.380
It's it's it's so vast, it's so vast.

00:22:00.539 --> 00:22:05.340
It's it can do, it can do basically anything.

00:22:05.500 --> 00:22:13.980
You know, it can dance and sing and talk and walk, and you can have full conversations with it.

00:22:14.060 --> 00:22:20.860
It's it's just it's to be honest with you, it's just about your imagination.

00:22:21.340 --> 00:22:31.900
And I really thought, you guys, I really thought this would that was that statement was a sales pitch when I first went to buy the robot.

00:22:32.940 --> 00:22:39.340
Because the the sales guy was like, Well, the robot can do anything, the only thing is limited is your imagination.

00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:41.180
So I'm thinking this is a sales pitch.

00:22:41.259 --> 00:22:42.380
I'm like, yeah, right.

00:22:43.180 --> 00:22:43.660
Yeah.

00:22:43.900 --> 00:24:56.539
So and and more is and more and more I got involved with the robot I started to understand that the statement that he made was not uh was not untrue at all this thing could do anything it can do anything like I said at first uh just think of it like this right you have the CPU at your home or whatever computer right you have that computer you know that computer can do multiple things and just think of it at a layman's at a layman's I guess you could say perspective that robot is just a computer so whatever my home desktop can do I can do it on that robot so if you know if I can make the my make my um desktop record I can make him record if I can make my desktop take pictures I can make him take pictures are you understand it's just so many different things you can do is we're probably to be able to name them all it'll probably be the whole episode to name them all it's so are pepper's hands functional to uh like pick up and move objects or are they more just for like gesturing or can like pepper hold a pen you know and write it's more like a gesture but I probably can do a pin because of the payload that's the only reason because of the payload now we know we have others I'm not going to give them a shout out or anything we have others that's coming out with um a stronger a stronger I guess you could say a stronger textile for the fingers and they have an arm that you can take off and replace when you want to do something a little more heavier but it's not really designed to grip certain things you know what I mean it's it's not it's not a warehouse worker or like moving it's not no the fingers the fingers are very delicate is it's almost like you said like a gesture.

00:24:56.860 --> 00:25:18.220
More for a gesture yeah right yes one thing I've considered uh when I saw Pepper and I've seen um a few others now um on social media kind of going over this idea that um as generations retire and we require more elder care, um we don't have enough humans to do this elder care.

00:25:18.539 --> 00:25:25.420
And it's like a bigger problem in in places like you know Japan um than it is in the US but it's going to be a problem in the US too.

00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:44.380
So social robots like this um performing the elder care is an interesting topic I've seen come up because they can at least uh carry on a conversation with somebody or while they may not be able to you know pick you up out of bed and support your weight, they can kind of guide you you know around your house and things like that.

00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:54.299
I'm curious what type types of tasks or if you see that even as a feasibility and if it is, you know, what kind of things do you think elder care could benefit from with regards to a social robot?

00:25:54.779 --> 00:26:02.220
Yeah like like safe instance just safe instance if we're at a facility and we have a pepper or something like that.

00:26:02.380 --> 00:26:11.980
I'm pretty sure it's the robot can be you know to um go over you'll probably have to have it pre-arranged you know just to be candid.

00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:28.860
I'm talking about the medicine on a table or something and you tell the robot oh go and get this you know go get this medicine bottle for me and it goes and get the medicine bottle or whatever or you know you can implement what blue is right now.

00:26:29.019 --> 00:26:43.500
Right now we have um we have it um program it recognizes red it recognizes red so if I had a red pill bottle I say go get my pill bottle the red pill bottle and it goes get the pill bottle and brings it back to me.

00:26:43.660 --> 00:26:52.860
So it's it's all like I said it's all depending on your imagination and and far as gripping it's just a payload it's just a payload that the hand can do.

00:26:53.100 --> 00:27:00.700
If you know you're gonna have it lifting something heavy you're probably gonna need something a little more powerful than um pepper.

00:27:01.019 --> 00:28:05.740
Does it have uh machine vision so it looks like it has eyeballs so it can see oh yes it has cameras it has cameras and lasers it can see it can navigate you know you can set it for obstacle avoidance so it won't bop it won't bump into certain things it's it all depends you know I make a little um I I make a comment in class when I'm teaching you know to see what they've been exposed to and I ask them if they ever seen the robots in the restaurant how does how does the robot in a restaurant bring you your tray of food how does it bring you your tray of food it's using that same thing that you're talking about it's using the eyes the cameras and the sensors and it's also been mapped out before um I guess you could say with a little bit of math this is um walk one meter turn right you know another meter or whatever and it comes to your table so it's all pre-designed before it even before you even come there.

00:28:06.060 --> 00:28:24.539
Yeah I'm familiar with um uh a couple of brands that use LiDAR more or less to uh localize themselves within uh like you said a pre-existing map like you map so you map the restaurant when it's empty and it don't see where all the tables are and then when people are in it.

00:28:25.980 --> 00:28:31.019
You hope that it can still see all the tables the same I think restaurants are difficult because they're so dynamic.

00:28:31.180 --> 00:28:37.820
Uh you can map it when there's nobody in the restaurant but then when it's full of people to the robot it's gonna look different.

00:28:38.299 --> 00:28:47.420
Does uh can Pepper can you like draw a map for Pepper and have Pepper know where she is in that map?

00:28:48.220 --> 00:28:49.259
If that makes sense?

00:28:50.700 --> 00:28:52.539
So like a locator or something.

00:28:53.100 --> 00:29:01.500
Something like that yeah like if she has a predetermined room and it's like you gave her a map of this room already instead the computer's over there, the TV's over there my pills are on this table over here.

00:29:01.820 --> 00:29:45.420
Yes I've done that before I've done something similar to that um I've done something I was um at a I guess you'd say the a museum I was at a museum and I had a program to if they asked where just say things I use where's the classic car is well they'll tell you I have a pro I have their program to tell you exactly where it's at and then to ask you if you want to follow me if you want to follow me to that destination and we'll go say a hundred meters turn left go through the double doors and you're there.

00:29:45.660 --> 00:29:47.500
So basically like that.

00:29:47.660 --> 00:29:49.019
So yes it can be done.

00:29:49.259 --> 00:29:49.900
Very cool.

00:29:50.140 --> 00:30:03.019
So is that the kind of concept that basically the kids start learning with these robots is not necessarily uh you know go put this over there but this is how you raise your leg to take a step forward and then you do it with the other leg.

00:30:03.100 --> 00:30:07.820
And now you could do a loop do that five times until you take in five steps.

00:30:08.140 --> 00:30:37.180
Yes that's exactly that's exactly how I teach them I want them to know the inner working I want them to know the behind the scenes I'm a bit I'm a big advocate on making sure that people are producers not just users that to me I that's a very big thing for me I want to make sure that they have the capability to be able to develop it.

00:30:37.259 --> 00:31:25.820
And like I tell children even if you're not going to become a computer scientist or developer you still want to put yourself in the position where you still know how these things are how they are activating how they are moving how how everything that in it workings because our society is thinking of putting these robots their goal is to put a humanoid robot in every household in America just like they did a TV just like they did the um computer so if that is if that statement is true you want to know you want to have the background knowledge of this stuff.

00:31:26.060 --> 00:32:12.140
You don't want you know I make a joke I say you don't want a technician to come to your house and fix your computer and the only thing was was wrong with it was a um a loose wire and he takes to the party and say oh it was this this this this this and this and that'd be 5,000 bucks for your ticket and if you don't know you don't know he only hooked the wire back up so that's right that's why it's important to me you know because as we were coming up when we were in school or whatever, you know, before it was taken away we knew what auto mechanics was we knew what a little bit about cars or what the inside of cars was and wood chop and all that.

00:32:12.299 --> 00:32:32.860
So we knew how what a hammer and nails and all that stuff is and I'm just pretty much preparing them for that also but through technology through digital technology it's funny that you brought up automotive because that is actually exactly um the industry I was thinking but like when we when you were saying you want to put one of everything in a house, people wanted to, you know, everybody to have a car.

00:32:33.019 --> 00:32:33.259
Yeah.

00:32:33.420 --> 00:32:40.779
Before you can put a car in every home the infrastructure needs to exist one to fuel the cars and two to repair the cars when they break down.

00:32:40.940 --> 00:32:53.580
So if you suddenly release cars you know to the world and nobody knows how to fix the car, um, then more it like that's we can see that happening now with like cars changing and mechanics uh like basically plug a computer into the car now.

00:32:53.740 --> 00:32:54.060
Yes.

00:32:54.299 --> 00:32:57.740
And we don't necessarily know how to like work on the older cars.

00:32:57.820 --> 00:33:08.539
But I I've thought about that a lot with robotics where we're gonna unleash you know the the fury of a bazillion robots into the world with like 10 people that know how to fix them.

00:33:08.700 --> 00:33:09.100
Yes.

00:33:09.420 --> 00:33:15.259
So like once these robots start breaking down in in 10 years, uh we're gonna have another crisis.

00:33:15.340 --> 00:33:23.019
Like right now we have a crisis of uh not enough people knowing how to weld and we're gonna have another crisis of not enough people know how to fix the broken robots.

00:33:23.180 --> 00:33:26.539
They know how to deploy the new robots but nobody knows how to fix the broken ones.

00:33:26.860 --> 00:33:50.140
Yes that's that's what my mindset is because I wanted to know the inside the inner workings I want them to know the inner workings so they won't be if they want to take that route to be a person who designs it or fix it you know they can be that person you know because they really don't inner workings you know like I said it's it's a beautiful thing.

00:33:50.299 --> 00:33:51.259
I love it.

00:33:51.740 --> 00:33:55.660
Because I'm biased by robots like what we used to do with the Auto Shop.

00:33:55.820 --> 00:34:53.099
Yeah it's like it should be another like high school class like here's your you know here's your insider robot course it might be an old car when you did auto and it might be or your car or it might be an old robot but at least it's kind of like you said they're they're all kind of similarly designed you're gonna find a servo motor in there somewhere right and you understand how that works and yes so as we know what is going to be a benefit to us I believe um it's gonna be a benefit to us is because Japan has implemented um have implemented AI into their core curriculum so I think we're gonna have to follow suit we're gonna have to follow suit if we want to keep up if we want to be just put it that way if we want to be competitive or I don't know what we're out there take but if we don't want to be competitive we know what's going to happen then people from Japan will be fixing your items.

00:34:53.259 --> 00:35:08.219
So it's up to you how you want this to unfold but I don't I want it to be you know I want someone to be locally I don't want it to be have to be outsourced or anything like that.

00:35:08.379 --> 00:36:28.779
That's that's why it's a big push for me to make them you know have them know about it at least plant the seed like I said it will be your students that will fix them right of course what did you say is the language for programming uh pepper did you say python yes I use I use python on mines because it's I teach Python so it was it was it was to me it was the no-brainer so but it also you know for the robot industry it's usually C or C or Python it depends Java it depends on what platform you want to do on do it on but it it pretty much um the SDK pretty much takes any language I agree with you on that C and Python I think are the most common two languages I see out there like when you're not using the robot's native language where they all have like their own custom programming you do like an SDK like you said and you're talking to it under the hood it's usually I've seen C more lately than Python but Python is like I'm a hardware engineer but I can read and understand Python and I can kind of write changes and stuff to Python.

00:36:28.859 --> 00:36:51.339
So I find Python like very easy um to write and understand in robotics and and that's one of the reasons I chose it also is because other range the age range that I'm targeting the nine to 17 and the and the easier usability of um python I I figure it's pretty easy you know if you really study it.

00:36:51.579 --> 00:36:58.460
And I've heard it's going to get a little bit faster because the reason is I hear people going towards C is Python's a little slower.

00:36:58.619 --> 00:37:04.379
But I have been hearing about changes um that are coming to Python where it might be a little bit faster.

00:37:04.460 --> 00:39:32.539
But admittedly I'm on the software side I feel like that's the weakest like my yes yeah because you know you and I know you and I know you know fast their definition of fast or faster what a millisecond okay you know I'm not that I'm not that impatient though I said well python did it in four seconds and no C plus plus did it in five okay I mean vice versa you know Python did it in five and C did it in four i'm I'm not that analation I think Python really is the the only correct answer you know in industry sometimes we run into like high you know the the higher speed applications or like the time of the matter like down to the microseconds but like outside of that like you said if you're doing education and you're programming a humanoid robot you're not gonna see the difference in how fast this humanoid robot's moving you know yeah because they just you know I guess from an industry standpoint they just want to um you know more and more products you know the that one second that one second adds up to a total the other day so I understand that so or if you're just trying to control uh a lot of axes and have a a certain outcome you know sometimes that timing matters but um I think with regard to showing you know the age group that you're showing just like you said planting the seed this is a robot it's not a scary thing um respect it obviously but it doesn't have to be like a scary thing um I've always taken that approach to a lot of things there's stuff that can be perceived as scary but you just need to understand it and respect it and robots are one of those things um that I think a lot of people if they don't understand it it's the scary thing um and like if you're learning at a young age like you know nine ten eleven years old like oh that's a robot I've seen that before and then you get into high school college after and you know you see inside the cabinet and it it's it's a foreign thing the first time you open a cabinet just all wires everywhere oh my god what is this and then you keep seeing things again and again even before you're the one that touches it you're like oh I've seen that before that looks kind of familiar and familiarity makes things really less scary so I think is super important for this age group because just the exposure alone even if they're not experts just the exposure alone is super important.

00:39:33.099 --> 00:39:46.059
Yes um that's been part of um what I've done too because I've been at a few you know a few events and I had students that approached Pepper or approached now and they were terrified.

00:39:46.619 --> 00:40:07.019
And usually what I do is because I know that the majority of just to be catted the majority of their um I guess you say their perspective come from adults and so I kind of debunk that and okay okay touch the robot.

00:40:07.099 --> 00:40:16.859
You know this is only plastic and wires right this is only plastic and wires is just like your computer at home but it's just a different shape.

00:40:17.019 --> 00:40:50.859
Come on up here come on come up and I've called several of them up on the stage to you know if they were really petrified to get rid of that um you know to get rid of I guess you could say whatever that fear factor is because I didn't want them to um to be honest with you I didn't want them to be petrified of something and close their self out to the opportunity to be involved in the robotic industry you know so because they were scared.

00:40:54.779 --> 00:40:58.379
I'm personally scared of Spot the robot are you familiar with Spot?

00:40:58.779 --> 00:41:46.219
Yeah you're talking about the dog robot yes yeah I've seen it walk up and down escalators and just stop and then just because it has I don't know 40 something cameras how many how many sensors does uh Pepper have Pepper has probably about nine sensors and about six cameras so it's it's pretty you know about uh you know you got the you got the two sensors in the eyes right you have one in the head and you have two at the bottom you know in case she runs something at four at floor level or whatever and you have it in the back also so okay pretty cool about um what about charging how long does her battery last and her battery lasts for her battery lasts for eight hours.

00:41:46.460 --> 00:42:15.500
Oh wow yeah for eight hours how long to charge um about two two hours about an hour two but I usually don't I really don't let it I guess you could say die all the way down I never let it uh do that I always keep it charged if I'm using it I I leave it until it reaches full capacity before I store it by does it have a removable battery?

00:42:15.739 --> 00:42:16.779
How big is that battery?

00:42:17.099 --> 00:42:36.219
Well the battery is pretty it's pretty small it's pretty small it's about the size of a I say you can it's about the size of a cell phone it's about this size okay about the size of a cell phone and you have one cord running through one end and adapter running through the other and that's about it.

00:42:38.460 --> 00:42:44.139
You have two versions you have one that is a a stationary charger.

00:42:44.379 --> 00:42:57.739
She can go to the charger herself and roll up on the charger and charge herself or you can plug it in with the cheaper version if you want to say cheap the cheaper version that you plug in.

00:42:57.899 --> 00:43:03.659
I I laugh about because the cheaper version is still$400 so oh that's funny.

00:43:05.980 --> 00:43:15.739
And I like that one because it's you know like I said I'm mobile so I do everything you know on the move so it helps to have something smaller.

00:43:15.980 --> 00:43:41.259
There's like mobile robots because I she's kind of a mobile robot um but like you're saying when you have a manual charge versus a dock I'm always impressed you know like we as humans are like oh I'm really tired I need to go rest so whenever I watch a robot just like I need to go dock myself now I always think of like that's the closest human emotion the robot's ever gonna have it's like oh I need to go now.

00:43:41.659 --> 00:43:42.139
Yes.

00:43:42.379 --> 00:43:56.859
Yeah but it's it's usually and it and believe it or not it tells you it tells you it tells you um my um my battery level is pretty low you maybe want to charge me up.

00:43:57.339 --> 00:44:06.699
So when it reaches that level is it's programmed to already tell you you know that you know give you a heads up okay my battery's about to die.

00:44:06.940 --> 00:44:34.940
So and then the pepper the now I mean the now it also has the same choice you can um you can have the docking station or you can have the plug-in like I showed you about the size of the cell phone but the docking station for now is is built like a chair so she actually goes sit down in the chair and charges like that.

00:44:35.099 --> 00:44:36.379
It's really cool.

00:44:36.779 --> 00:44:48.779
So see these robots are even teaching us mental health lessons at this point because we all need to learn and just go up to the closest adult I need to charge my battery and I'm gonna go sit down right now.

00:44:49.579 --> 00:44:55.739
Like I said, it can, you know, it can it can be programmed to do anything.

00:44:56.219 --> 00:45:01.339
You know, we can, we can, we can, if we have a mental health team, we can do that.

00:45:01.579 --> 00:45:02.619
You understand what I mean?

00:45:02.699 --> 00:45:13.500
You can you can do this certain things or you know if you have a mental health exercise, you can program pepper to do that exercise and ask the people to follow.

00:45:13.739 --> 00:45:15.099
You understand what I mean?

00:45:15.419 --> 00:45:16.940
Yeah, or just a demonstration.

00:45:17.179 --> 00:45:22.859
Be like, can I set pepper and just like ignore that and be like work until you die and then do that as a demonstration.

00:45:22.940 --> 00:45:28.699
I'm like look what happens you just died right there in the middle of what you stop and take a break when you're supposed to.

00:45:28.940 --> 00:45:29.500
Mm-hmm.

00:45:30.139 --> 00:45:32.779
So it's all about the imagination really it really is.

00:45:32.940 --> 00:45:37.579
It's all about the imagination that is the limit is the limit on it.

00:45:37.659 --> 00:46:22.379
When I meet people and they say um I met a guy probably about I'm rambling a little bit I met a guy about two weeks ago and he said oh that robot it only dances and and talk and whatever I said sir I I I don't mean any any any disrespect but the the robot is a reflection of your imagination and you just looked at me and he said if it doesn't do this it means I guess your imagination don't go to that level for real and just you know don't say that because it can do it it can do multi anything doesn't involve graphics.

00:46:22.619 --> 00:46:36.059
It doesn't have to do a backflip yes if people want to find out more about your not for profit where is where's the best place for them to find out more information about this?

00:46:36.219 --> 00:46:37.819
Like do you have a full website?

00:46:38.059 --> 00:47:19.019
Yes I have a full website which is realitytech.org it's actually plugged in you can do realitytext.org or realitytext.com it doesn't matter and that's also where people can sign up for classes and oh yeah it it has all the different choices that you may want to do if you want to do it online it has the choices for that if you want me to come to your school and do a class for 12 weeks or whatever your um may be it's that form is there also so I pretty much I think I pretty much have everything covered as far as anyone's need.

00:47:20.219 --> 00:47:22.779
So out of curiosity what all does that entail?

00:47:22.859 --> 00:47:32.219
Because I didn't realize you had like multi-week long classes or like a like a everything from a short one day class to a four-week class.

00:47:33.019 --> 00:47:39.899
Yes say for instance if we did the one day class like you mentioned that would probably just be a demonstration or something like that.

00:47:40.139 --> 00:47:46.619
Go through the formalities of you know what is it has it does this it does this it does this.

00:47:46.779 --> 00:48:01.099
Okay now if you want to learn how to do this on your own okay here's a 12 week here's a 12 week or a 12 session however you want to put it and what we go through we go through the inner workings.

00:48:01.259 --> 00:48:16.379
We actually write the code we actually see the um robot do the different tasks and we learn everything behind the scenes of what it does you know what is facial recognition what is obstacle avoidance all those different things.

00:48:16.619 --> 00:48:24.379
So when you do an online course is it primarily uh like write this Python code and then see what it does in simulation?

00:48:24.699 --> 00:48:28.139
No it's it's just it's it's the same if I will be in person.

00:48:28.219 --> 00:49:02.139
The only thing it's going to be is online is going to be live it's going to be live and and what I do I give you access to my license of choreography so you have it virtually you have a virtual robot that looks exactly like the pepper that I have here so you'll be able to you know manipulate that with code and we'll learn the same thing I would teach them in the 12 in the 12 week program I would teach you online the same way but yeah that's that's what we end up doing.

00:49:02.299 --> 00:49:24.699
And what I want to I want to um emphasize I guess emphasize is that when I do give you the access for choreograph E you have the access to that um to that software for life not just for the 12 weeks.

00:49:24.859 --> 00:49:36.940
So it'd be on your computer or until I pass away you know so it I guess to to my lifetime until I pass away and then the license goes away or whatever.

00:49:37.099 --> 00:50:06.539
But they won't know the license goes away that's another different ethical thing but they won't know I'm gone because I'm not going to tell them so yeah so yeah so that's pretty cool because I know a lot of parents get discouraged because they might say oh that's an expensive robot and I just want them to know that he still he or she will still have the robot and just be virtual.

00:50:07.019 --> 00:51:07.179
And so earlier you were saying that uh you know lower income communities or underserved communities um like are your target audience is yeah yeah to begin with but to begin with and to be honest with you to be really candid about it is I've I've um I guess you could say as far as the programming the coding and the robotics I've served over probably about over 2,000 students and unfortunately unfortunately only about 200 of them has been undeserved you know low-income students and I don't know why that's because I start that's why I start distress that you will have this um this robot even in a virtual environment because I didn't want the parent to assume as soon as they see this role I just say oh that's out of my range.

00:51:07.419 --> 00:51:13.179
I can't guess that thing you you understand what I mean so you don't have to purchase it.

00:51:13.259 --> 00:51:16.219
So that's why I want put emphasis on that.

00:51:16.379 --> 00:51:49.179
So yeah it's unfortunate but that's what I'm doing now I'm trying to reach out now I'm starting my summer camps back now here in um the Georgia area started my summer camps back now so hopefully they'll get an opportunity to to um to participate to participate because I don't I really you know I really want them to be able to you know to access this type of technology because it's here it's not going anywhere.

00:51:49.419 --> 00:52:24.139
It's just going to get stronger and better and I want them to be in a position to be able to take you know be able to take advantage of what's going on you know like we know um if I'm teaching nine to nine to 17 10 years from now my starting students will be 19 years old and they're they'll be ready to work you know and I want them to be able to when they go into the industry I don't want them I don't want the the rollback technology to be foreign to them.

00:52:24.299 --> 00:52:31.659
I want them to know okay okay this is oh I've seen like you mentioned before Courtney I've seen this before let's go.

00:52:31.980 --> 00:52:47.179
I know this brand yeah so they'll just breeze through your your 60 day training or whatever then it's just breeze through it instead of you know it's being a really a task you know like going back to school type training.

00:52:47.339 --> 00:53:22.460
So who is your ideal uh customer for summer or not I want to say customer but like who who is your um ideal student I guess for summer and what other ways like besides the website are good to reach you well um the website the website has basically all of my information it has my my office phone number my cell number my email so there's so many different ways if they want to reach me is it's really I guess you could say I'm really open.

00:53:22.619 --> 00:53:46.619
I just put it that way I have all the social media links at the bottom so if you're looking for me I shouldn't be hard to find and my target audience is it's anyone who really really want they don't I want to have an interest in computer at least a little spark and I'll work it from there.

00:53:46.940 --> 00:53:56.619
Even even if you want to be a doctor and you don't think it correlates with what you're going to do I'm gonna show you how it does.

00:53:56.779 --> 00:54:06.460
And like I said I I'm the type of person I don't you know this is kind of like a personal bias uh I don't like to be left out the loop.

00:54:07.179 --> 00:54:39.819
So I'm hoping that type of person if you're going to be a doctor and you know that they have robotics doing surgery now I would hope you would want to know something about those robots because it's just part of your field it's not primarily your you you're your primo your prioritizing I guess part that you prioritize but it's part of your field and I'm hoping you would know want to know about it.

00:54:39.899 --> 00:54:59.099
That's why agreed well I really actually I enjoyed this conversation a lot thank you so much for your time because uh this I'm I'm kind of the the robot nut I think out of everybody and just talking about all the different things robots could do or that you could show them to do uh for kids has been a great conversation.

00:54:59.500 --> 00:55:00.059
Thank you so much.

00:55:00.619 --> 00:55:01.259
Thank you very much.

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If you like our content and you want to stay in touch please connect with us on LinkedIn follow the show page subscribe to our YouTube channel and you can send us a message or a coffee on our website automationladies.io we look forward to getting to know you.

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Our producer is Veronica Espinosa and our music is composed by Daniel James

How A Nonprofit Brings Humanoid Robotics To Underserved Students with Dr. Elliot Heflin. Jr