Autonomous Trash Collector Robot: Code for a Cleaner Planet

Lumen is a state-of-the-art robotic dog designed to assist blind individuals or those with vision impairments by providing safe, intelligent navigation and essential daily support. Using advanced sensors and spatial mapping, Lumen guides users through audio cues, helping them avoid obstacles, cross streets, and navigate both indoor and outdoor environments with confidence. It features a built-in medicine dispenser that alerts users when it's time to take their medication and provides the correct dosage at the right time. Lumen also includes emergency safety features such as a fire and smoke alarm system, instantly notifying the user and guiding them to safety when danger is detected. Additionally, its facial recognition capability helps identify familiar people, offering verbal cues like “That’s your sister Emily,” to enhance social interaction and awareness. With its combination of mobility aid, health management, emergency response, and social assistance, Lumen serves as a reliable and life-enhancing companion.

In this engaging STEM activity, high school students will take on the role of "Climate Detectives," using robotics and technology to monitor and analyze critical environmental variables, such as temperature, humidity, and air quality. Through this hands-on approach, students will create simple robotic systems equipped with sensors to collect real-time data. They will then use statistical and mathematical tools to analyze the data and understand how these environmental factors impact our planet.

The project integrates Science (Climate & Environmental Science), Technology (Robotics & Programming), Engineering (Design & Prototyping), and Mathematics (Data Analysis & Modeling). By working in teams, students will build and program their robots, analyze their data, and interpret the results through statistical models.

This activity culminates in students developing their own environmental monitoring systems that will trigger smart responses (like activating an irrigation system or alerting when pollution levels exceed thresholds) and presenting their findings using visual dashboards. The project emphasizes problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration while also introducing basic robotics and sensor technologies to real-world environmental challenges.

In this hands-on STEM activity, students will design, build, and program a basic autonomous robot capable of performing a simulated rescue mission in a hazardous environment (such as an earthquake, flood, or wildfire scenario). Using sensors and programming tools (e.g., Arduino, micro:bit, LEGO EV3), students will guide their robot to search for and detect "victims" (represented by objects of specific color, heat, or RFID tags), navigate an obstacle-filled terrain, and transmit location data back to a control station.

Throughout the project, students will apply skills in robotics, coding, logic, geometry, and teamwork. They will also analyze real-world challenges of disaster response and reflect on the role of robotics in humanitarian efforts.

The activity culminates in a live challenge where each team’s robot performs in a simulated emergency zone, and teams present their process and design decisions to a panel or classroom.