Hot AWS EdStart startups – robotics edition: Neuranext, Robobloq, and STEAM SCHOOL IN-A-BOX

Robots are now used to perform a range of tasks from environmental monitoring and search and rescue missions to cleaning, companionship, assisted surgery, and logistics and delivery. These tasks require higher compute capabilities as well as the use of artificial intelligence (AI), image recognition, sensing, machine learning (ML), and reinforcement learning. Because many careers now include robotics, it’s important for schools to incorporate robotics and related education into their curriculums to train and empower the future workforce.

Read on to learn about three AWS EdStart startups that are using Amazon Web Services (AWS) to teach robotics and supporting technologies in the classroom.

Neuranext

Neuranext is an Australian technology startup that specializes in AI. Its founding team combined their skills and professional experience – which includes data science, computer engineering, commercial development, teaching, media, and business – to establish a company dedicated to developing AI-related solutions and encouraging STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education.

Neuranext encourages school-age students to pursue STEM learning as they transition to high school through two programs. One introduces AI and its related fields through interactive classroom programs, and the second is the New South Wales (NSW) government-approved and accredited professional development program on AI for their teachers.

“To have school students meaningfully engage with artificial intelligence and STEM, you need a teaching program that is interactive, hands-on, and not boring. We’ve found that AI robots delight, inspire, and capture the imagination of school students. With the success of AWS-powered AI robotics in our programs, we delivered our education programs to more than 1,000 students and teachers since March 2019,” said Dr. Andrew Kyngdon, Chairman and Director, Neuranext.

Robobloq

Robobloq, a STEAM robotics company in China, provides high-quality and affordable STEAM coding robots for kids 3-18 years old, along with a corresponding curriculum. The Robobloq Robot construction platform consists of more than 500 non-toxic and re-useable anodized aluminum parts including beams, gears, shafts, and motors in a standardized design. Robobloq has more than 40 different electronic modules including a camera, USIM, memory, solar power, pressure sensor, and gas sensor modules. These modules are compatible with their drag-and-drop coding interface and traditional coding languages like Python, JavaScript, C++, and Swift. After building robots, users can control, code, and customize the robots in an app that allows children to enhance their logical thinking.

“When I first started Robobloq, I had a vision to build a platform where young children can easily have the access to create something cool and unique – an environment that inspires their creativity, collaboration, and logical thinking. Robotics shouldn’t be out of reach; it should be a skill that everyone can possess,” said Jerry Wang, Founder and CEO, Robobloq. “We prefer to use cloud-based artificial intelligence to process our data and help us decide in real-time how to respond to our customers’ different demands. AWS helps us build an artificial intelligence based, high speed, fully automated, and highly scalable platform.”

STEAM SCHOOL IN-A-BOX

Conmasfuturo in Spain created STEAM SCHOOL IN-A-BOX, a solution for students to learn programming and robotics and for teachers to guide students ages 3-17 without mastery of the subject. Students get to see AI and anti-hacking, first-hand through video games and apps.

STEAM SCHOOL IN-A-BOX provides teachers with a script for classroom material including challenges for the students. The students solve the challenges in groups with the help of an interactive platform, collaborating and competing with each other while playing. Classes are structured step-by-step, so teachers only need to follow the script.

“AWS has given us the ease to scale according to business needs. As a startup, proximity and advice are key. Many times, when a small or medium-sized company works with multinationals, you have the feeling that nothing matters to the supplier. With AWS, you have the feeling that there are people with you. They care, they know your name, and they worry about your problems. You get technical advice and help optimizing performance and costs. The machines are extraordinary, but the people are too,” said Antolin García Gomez, CEO, STEAM SCHOOL IN-A-BOX.

Through these companies – and advances in AI, cloud computing, and robotics – students are creating new and more impactful robotics solutions for education. Imagine bringing compute, storage, and other innovative AWS services to developers around the world. This unleashes new possibilities where robots of all types are deployed to provide an array of diverse tasks for consumers and enterprise customers.

Learn more about how our members around the world use AWS on the AWS EdStart website. Stay up-to-date on all AWS EdStart news and events by joining the AWS EdStart newsletter mailing list.