Name: Luo Yingrou
Year of Study: Year 9
Age: 15
Country: China
Sending Warm Hugs
Our group is designing a hugging machine. The reason we are working on this hugging machine is because we want to make students in our school feel welcome and have an enjoyable learning experience as part of SIM IA. With this invention, we also hope students can gain comfort and energy to learn more knowledge and enjoy themselves in our school.
As for the design of the machine, we intentionally created it to look like a cute huggable cat. The machine is in a fixed position and is as big as a teenager (1.60m). We also made the hands of the machine very soft and cuddly.
The most interesting part of this project is learning how to prototype our ideas. At first, we devised different ways to understand the mechanisms that were needed for “hugging”. Despite the initial challenge, we decided to use wool and spring to make the hands of the machine close faster than before.
I think STEM is a useful curriculum for us. We learnt how to solve problems in the best way quickly and test ideas by prototyping. We also learnt to recognise that problem-solving is a very important skill in our life. As a team, we need to persist and constantly encourage one another in order for us to be successful. More importantly, we need to use the knowledge that we have learned through Science and Mathematics to solve new problems. This knowledge is not just for passing our examinations but also, it is applicable in our daily lives.