🐰Spring 2024

Welcome to the Easter Code for Life Newsletter!

This month we are celebrating robots and how we make them move with instructions. We have included real-world applications to interactive coding projects and spotlighting student achievements in a competition. Join us in fostering a passion for STEM education and empowering young minds to shape the future through innovation and creativity. Happy coding!

“AI is the most powerful tool ever invented by humanity.”

Demis Hassabis, Co-founder of DeepMind

First Robot to Use Artificial Intelligence (1972)

It was known as Shakey (shown in video below) because of the stuttering way it moved around, but what was most distinguishing about this robot, created by a group of engineers at the Stanford Research Institute, was that it included pioneering artificial intelligence. If you gave Shakey a goal — such as navigating its way across a room or pushing a box along the floor — it could accomplish it by observing the world around it, creating a plan, and executing. With sensors that included a TV camera, a range finder and touch-sensitive metal whiskers, Shakey would gather data that enabled it to build a model of its environment and then use a “planning” program to generate its next moves. This idea of a separate “planning” layer was such a crucial innovation that it is still central to many robotic systems today. - Source: Arventine.org

Did you know?

Ocado's robotic arms make smart decisions on the fly, packing grocery items densely into bags without any prior knowledge of what the products are or what’s coming next.

Can you complete a Code for Life brainteaser? They are quite tricky!

There are some levels in Rapid Router for those that need a bit more of a challenge.

You can find them in the red section on the levels page.

Here's a link to one, see if you can do it!

An afternoon designing robots, and coding with Rapid Router!

Ocado Technology and Code for Life staff at The Grove Primary School

Code for Life partnered with some talented colleagues at Ocado Technology to create an engaging robotics and coding workshop for primary school students. The event was a resounding success, captivating approximately 90 young minds over a fun-filled afternoon.

“The children were buzzing after the session and found it really exciting to be able to design a robot and to meet real life coding experts. It was great to see them applying their coding knowledge on the Rapid Router game.”

Mr Emanuel, Deputy Headteacher.

Mr Emanuel from The Grove Junior School in Harpenden, arranged for the team to take over three classes, one after the other, initially showing a short presentation and then, encouraging the children to design a robot to solve a problem. If they managed to finish this task they then moved onto coding with Rapid Router, which we demonstrated on the screen beforehand. The feedback we received was fantastic and we all had a great time working with the children.

Get in touch if you would like us to help run a robotics workshop at your school.

Under the Spotlight

Mark Richardson - CEO of OIA

I live in North London with my family and a labradoodle named Zuko. My first summer job was selling ice cream on a beach in Norfolk. I did it for six years in a row and loved it, despite working long hours as a 13-year-old. One summer, I worked on a local fairground which was seriously tough but a good reference point for hard days in the office.

Mark Richardson - CEO of OIA

"Early Ocado was like a rollercoaster whose bolts hadn’t been tightened. If you get the chance to work in a start-up you should do it. The task seemed enormous, but so was the drive and determination."

I studied Physics at UCL before joining the IT department at John Lewis Partnership. They trained me in software development, let me build a procurement team and improve their network infrastructure. I also created their first e-commerce website.

I then moved on to work for Ocado, where I ran the Technology team for ten years. Early Ocado was like a rollercoaster whose bolts hadn’t been tightened. If you get the chance to work in a start-up you should do it. The task seemed enormous, but so was the drive and determination. I have been responsible for Logistics, building new CFCs, creating our own ASRS, and installing it around the world.

Now we are all on another adventure with OIA. I have always been better at starting than finishing, and it is my very good fortune to have spent most of my career in an organisation that starts so much!

Let us know what you think of our newsletter by getting in touch and sharing your thoughts and ideas.

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Ocado Innovation Limited is registered in England under registered company number 08813912 with its registered office at Buildings One & Two Trident Place, Mosquito Way, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, AL10 9UL

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