Site Logo

Pepper the robot visits Spartronics team

Published 10:29 am Tuesday, June 28, 2016

The new Spartronics co-captain Alex Larson-Freeman and past co-captain  Kolin Hawkins gather for a photo with the humanoid robot Pepper.
The new Spartronics co-captain Alex Larson-Freeman and past co-captain Kolin Hawkins gather for a photo with the humanoid robot Pepper.

The Bainbridge High School competitive robotics team, Spartronics 4915, was recently visited by an industry expert from Aldebaran Robotics — along with a very special guest.

The students got to meet and view a demonstration of the capabilities of “Pepper,” a humanoid robot, by SoftBank Robotics’ Nicolas Rigaud from the French headquarters of SoftBank’s main robotics division Aldebaran Robotics. Pepper is an “emotionally intelligent” robot, meaning it is able to read emotions. It is now used by several large firms, including Nestle.

Rigaud talked to students and team mentors about the challenges programmers and software and hardware designers face in creating better consumer experiences when interacting with humanoid robots and also the importance of emotional intelligence.