See SPOT walk, see SPOT climb, see SPOT dance! This spring, we had the opportunity to host a very unusual guest at story time!
Meet SPOT, a four-legged robot created by Boston Dynamics. He lives on Princeton University campus and is part of a course titled “Robots in Human Ecology: A Hands-on Course for Anthropologists, Engineers, and Policymakers.” SPOT arrived with an amazing team of undergraduate handlers, plus plenty of plush toys to share.
Vivian Chen, Marisa Hirschfield, Aaron Serianni, Vasumathi Venkat, Zoe Rhodes
We started the program reading Boy + Bot, written by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino (Knopf Books, 2012). The story is about the playful interactions between a boy and a robot, which fit perfectly with SPOT’s dynamic nature. After the book concluded, we had a short, 10 minute design activity in which young future engineers drew their own personal robots, and earned a paw print approval sticker from Team SPOT:
Then it was time for the big show as SPOT entered the gallery!
The students did a fantastic job putting together a demo, answering endless questions from the audience, and just being enthusiastic about sharing what they study. One of my favorite parts was when they demonstrated how SPOT can be programmed to read and follow fiducials, which are basically QR codes representing numbers. SPOT scans the code, finds the number, and then completes a pre-programmed action associated with the number (like moving forward, turning, or extending his arm).
I asked Zoe Rhodes (seen above) what was the best lesson she learned from SPOT this semester. She replied:
“I would say the best lesson I learned from working with SPOT is the importance of making mistakes. We love it when things work out but most of the time we’re dealing with mistakes. But as I’ve worked with SPOT I’ve realized that these mistakes teach us so much more about ourselves and our capabilities than when things go correctly. It sounds a little cliche to say we learn from our mistakes but that’s really what robotics (and most things in life) are about. SPOT may fall down but we pick him right up and try again. In my opinion this makes the end product so much more fulfilling and exciting.”
I posed the same question to Vivian Chen, who added:
“The best lesson I learned from working with SPOT is patience goes a long way when working with robots and new technology!”
It was a truly magical story time, THANK YOU so much to the students and to professors Alexander Glaser and Ryo Morimoto for putting together such a tremendous program!
“The art is gorgeous, the book is inclusive, and it’s a great introduction to graphic novels. Plus, the tea dragons are adorable.”
“I still quote this book: ‘You get what you get and you don’t get upset.’”
“It illustrates the process of self-discovery.”
“It is a story about not caring what others think or conforming to the role society has written for you. With hard work, persistence and creativity, you can make anything happen – like surrounding yourself with nature, even in the middle of the city.”
“Her house is upside-down! She’s essentially the neighborhood witch, and I love how all the kids’ commonplace problems manifest in reality.”
“Adventures of a worker bee who likes to eat pollen, make sweets, and organize her honey pots.”
“It opens up a good discussion about where our food comes from.”
Darlene Dreyer – Assistant to the Associate University Librarian
“I read it as an adult and was very moved by it. The description of the family and beautiful young friendship, and the more than devastating ending.”
“I love the details in illustrations, and as a young parent I could totally understand Petson’s life with a naughty kitten. I read it in Russian countless times, and it was translated to many languages (English title: Pancakes for Findus).”
“Besides beings a nice story for children who love animals, I appreciate that it was an early exposure to thinking about ethics in scientific research. It also provided considerate thoughts about the nature of prejudice and touched on environmentalism, so not merely the endearing tale of a motherly mouse seeking to save her sick child from the spring plow, but that was also a lovely aspect of the story.”
Berta Harvey – Library Collections Specialist V, Lewis Science Library
“My children found it so engaging when they were toddlers. It has very expressive pictures and it’s fun to read.”
“A book of stories and poems, mostly whimsical, always thoughtful, and sometimes melancholical.”
“ALL of Freeman’s picture books are beautiful!”
“It was the first time I’d seen my own love for books and fantasy stories reflected back in a book.”
“This is a wonderful story about how love and care impact the ways living beings interact with the world – all wrapped up in an adorable story about a family trying to adopt fearsome watchdogs only for each dog to become more of a marshmallow than the last.”
“The illustrations are rich; my son and I see something new each time we read it. It’s also a wonderful story about how even the most contentious relationships can be healed!”
“My favorite story to read to my kids when they were young.”
“Timeless triumph of peace and gentleness over stupidity and aggression. And the cork trees!”
I wanted a horse so so so soooo very bad growing up. Wished for it, dreamed of it, waited for it. It took a couple decades, but my horse FINALLY arrived! My heart runneth over…
The paper menu correlated with an acrylic menu we hung by the window, so kids could see how the colors appear when they are dry. At the event, they could choose up to 6 colors.
The color menus further correlated with paint bottle holders I made out of box tops and paper cups. This helped me and Katie locate colors fast, and also kept the bottles upright.
Kids then took everything to worktables where Sharpies were waiting in bins. They used the Sharpies to draw on the acrylic, colored it in with the paint, then took it to the drying tables. Our system totally worked…we had ZERO paint spills or accidents and the kids were really delighted with the little color palettes.
For caregivers who didn’t want to navigate paint, we made small copies of four of the custom windows, and had a coloring table with washable markers.
The surprise runaway event hit, however, were the light tables. These were 3 LED light tracing pads we purchased on Amazon. We bought large 11″ x 16″ pads, which cost $40 each, but there are definitely smaller cheaper one available. The light pads were paired with translucent shapes and tiles (about $9 – $13 a set, depending on the style), Katie also spotted a super cool pack of 12 transparent geodes (Amazon, $25).
The grand finale at the event was Karen Caldwell from 
