Why Are Too Few Females in Robotics? Could It Be the Robots?

Comments

• erco Posts: 19,737

  2017-10-04 - 20:05:16

  erco wrote: »

  Girls like fire, right?

  
  You know. For cooking & baking stuff.
  
  
• RS_Jim Posts: 1,383

  2017-10-04 - 20:08:14

  And motivation of their men.
• Carol Hazlett Posts: 301

  2017-10-04 - 23:23:36

  Wait a minute! I am a female and I love burning stuff and blowing stuff up!
  Though I have been accused of being a weirdo at times. Mostly by other women.
  What I like about FIRST is those girls seem to understand. FIRST and STEM are the
  best things to have happened in our schools. Not only are the kids happily engaged in
  active learning it is bringing a much better mix of kids together!
• Publison Posts: 11,508

  2017-11-30 - 14:14:12

  Add one more girl.
  
  

  11-year-old Gitanjali Rao won this year's Discovery Education and 3M Young Scientist Challenge.
  Her winning invention was a sensor that can more accurately detect lead levels in water compared to current methods.

  
  http://www.businessinsider.com/winner-of-3m-americas-top-young-scientist-lead-levels-in-water-2017-10
  
• Whit Posts: 4,130

  2017-12-01 - 04:27:51

  Great story Publison! Thanks.
• Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 22,691

  2017-12-01 - 07:38:24

  And let's not forget these Afghani girls who've overcome incredible odds to win a robotics contest in Europe:
  
  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/world/afghanistan-girls-robotics.html
  
  -Phil
• Whit Posts: 4,130

  2017-12-01 - 16:58:29

  @PhiPi - another great story!
• erco Posts: 19,737

  2017-12-04 - 01:46:58

  Great stories.
  
  
  Just saw this doll on a balancing Segway, aimed at STEM girls.
  
  https://www.educents.com/smartgurlz-with-maria-doll-app-controlled.html
  
  
• erco Posts: 19,737

  2017-12-06 - 00:14:25

  Met this tenth-grade girl briefly at Maker Faire, but didn't see her exhibit. Just checked out her website, WOW. She's a ball of energy. Watch out for hot Coco! She'll give Ladyada a run for her money in a few years!
  
  https://dtla.makerfaire.com/maker/entry/126/
  
  http://www.veryhappyrobot.com/
• Whit Posts: 4,130

  2017-12-06 - 04:03:42

  @erco, @Ken - We need to make sure that Coco gets a FLiP.
• erco Posts: 19,737

  2017-12-07 - 16:54:34

  Am I the only one who still thinks CoCo stands for Radio Shack's TRS-80 Color Computer?
• Publison Posts: 11,508

  2017-12-07 - 16:57:34

  No, I still have a CoCo2 and CoCo3.
• Whit Posts: 4,130

  2017-12-08 - 03:46:06

  I saw Coco K - and went immediately to Coco(a) Krispies...
  
  
• erco Posts: 19,737

  2018-01-06 - 17:41:42

  It might be Nadine keeping females (AND males) out of robotics. She's creepy and has MANHANDS (Seinfeld reference).
  
  
  
  
• erco Posts: 19,737

  2018-02-06 - 02:17:58

  Not sure if my 8 y.o. twin girls will be roboticists, but they came to Dad for some electronic lights & sounds in their pinewood derby cars. It's a charming first step towards kicking some butt!
  
  
• Whit Posts: 4,130

  2018-02-06 - 21:59:26

  Go girls! Great derby cars and Dad hacks!
  
• Carol Hazlett Posts: 301

  2018-02-06 - 22:11:26

  Thingiverse has a whole bunch of 3D printed Pine car style cars. Maybe get your girls into 3D printing.
• Whit Posts: 4,130

  2018-04-05 - 01:37:50

  I love this commercial for the University of Phoenix encouraging women to enter tech fields. Their YouTube page says this about the one-minute spot (there is a 30-second version too), "As automation takes over manufacturing jobs, a single mom chooses to adapt instead of being left behind. In this inspirational video, she finds the motivation to rise above her circumstances, reinvent herself with updated skills and become more relevant in today’s workforce. We can do it."
  
  
  
• erco Posts: 19,737

  2018-04-05 - 02:02:26

  That is AWESOME! Thanks Whit!
  
• erco Posts: 19,737

  2018-04-23 - 21:09:35 edited 2018-04-23 - 21:11:00

  Was Lady Ada Lovelace the first computer programmer? Her dad, Lord Byron and Limor Fried would say so. She would be certainly good in robotics!
  
  http://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-first-computer-programmer-2018-3?utm_source=microsoft
• Heater. Posts: 21,233

  2018-04-24 - 05:49:05 edited 2018-04-24 - 05:50:13

  Lovelace was the first computer programmer. As it was open source you can read the program yourself:
  
  
  
  Sadly the computer to run it did not get built until 1985.
• Ken Gracey Posts: 6,811

  2018-04-24 - 14:45:37

  Whit wrote: »

  @erco, @Ken - We need to make sure that Coco gets a FLiP.

  
  I sent her some hardware, including a FLiP!
  
  Could one of you check in to see if she has put it to use yet?
  
  Ken Gracey
  
  
• Whit Posts: 4,130

  2018-04-25 - 02:57:31

  Ken Gracey wrote: »

  
  I sent her some hardware, including a FLiP!
  
  Could one of you check in to see if she has put it to use yet?
  
  Ken Gracey
  

  
  I sent her a note to find out Ken and invited her here and to Blockly for Microcontrollers Facebook!
  
  
  
• AwesomeCronk Posts: 958

  2018-04-26 - 22:24:32

  I believe that the analytical engine, never having been built, was intended to be operated by Georgiana Whitmore, she married Charles Babbage, the man who designed it.
• Heater. Posts: 21,233

  2018-04-27 - 00:16:12

  Where on Earth did you get that story from? Links please.
  
  Of course then, as now, there is a lot of difference between a computer operator and a computer programmer.
  
  With the Babbage machines the operator only had to turn the crank !
  
  
• AwesomeCronk Posts: 958

  2018-04-27 - 03:25:35

  Actually the Analytical engine had punch cards that would have been made by Georgina Whitmore. These cards were the program. It was like doing math in PBASIC is now. If you want addition, you say: Var = 2+5. That was how these cards worked. The actual engine took about 100 to 300 sqft and was to be powered by the engine of a steam loco.(a lot of hp, probably about 50+)
  https://www.biography.com/people/charles-babbage-9193834?scrlybrkr=46b01c12
  charlesbabbage.net/
  computerhistory.org/babbage/engines/
• AwesomeCronk Posts: 958

  2018-04-27 - 03:26:03 edited 2018-04-27 - 03:26:23

  Did this for a school project last year. Pulled these out of my bibliography.
• Heater. Posts: 21,233

  2018-04-27 - 07:44:00

  AwesomeCronk,
  
  There is no mention Georgina Whitmore or whatever she may have done with punch cards in the links you provide.
  
  Googling around I don't find much about Georgina Whitmore apart from the fact she was married to Charles Babbage and had 8 children. One of which was also called Georgina Whitmore, just to confuse things.
• AwesomeCronk Posts: 958

  2018-04-28 - 00:35:26

  I cannot find any of my other links, sorry. she may have been mentioned as Georgina Babbage. One of my sources said that the machine(analytical or difference engines) was programmed by punch cards made and inserted by "...his wife.".
• erco Posts: 19,737

  2018-05-23 - 02:16:35

  Cindy Crawford graduated valedictorian in 1984, then went to Northwestern University to major in chemical engineering before dropping out to model. With the right push, she could have been a noteworthy roboticist!
  
  http://omglane.com/2330/celebrity-iqs-that-are-truly-incredible/14/