Maya and the Robot: Chapters 6–9

He loaded Ralph up onto the rolling dolly he uses to move boxes around in the store, and together we wheeled him out the door.

I copied a picture out of Alice in Wonderland, of the white rabbit tapping his watch, and Mr. Mac liked it so much that he laminated it.

Last year, I had tried to make my own drone out of some old remote-control toys I found at the thrift store, and it ended up crashing into the Muhammads’ kitchen window.

I practically bounced in my seat, I was so eager to get home and look it over.

She passed out information packets with due dates, assignment requirements, grading rubrics, and lists of websites to use for research and ideas.

Then I sat at the kitchen table with a glass of bubbly water and pored through the notebook.

BIG QUESTION: CAN BIOINSPIRATION MAKE ROBOTS MORE APPEALING TO WORKERS?

BIG QUESTION: WHAT IS THE BALANCE BETWEEN MAKING ROBOTS LOW-COST AND HIGH- UTILITY FOR THE HOUSEHOLD?

ACTUATOR TRIAL 6: FAILED ATTEMPT. TRY ALUMINUM ALLOY INSTEAD OF STAINLESS STEEL?

ACTUATOR TRIAL 7: FAILED ATTEMPT. ALUMINUM ALLOY LIGHTER, BUT NOT STRONG ENOUGH. TRY 6262 ALUMINUM ALLOY INSTEAD OF 6261? 6262 CONTAINS LEAD. HIGHER TENSILE STRENGTH.

When I typed “bioinspiration” into the search bar online, I found dozens of interesting videos showing robots inspired by snakes, by ants, and even a robot that could jump like a kangaroo.

DOMESTIC/SOCIAL ASSISTANT. HOUSEHOLD? WORKPLACE?

In the margins were notes explaining Ralph’s different parts. Scrolling LED mouth. Camera eyes with remote viewing capabilities.

In the margins were notes explaining Ralph’s different parts. Scrolling LED mouth. Camera eyes with remote viewing capabilities. Arms with modular actuators.

I knew that real-life science is about mistakes, about trying things over and over again. And there won’t always be a library book to tell me just what to do. That much was clear from all of Christopher’s “failed attempt” notes. But despite knowing all that, I still felt a pang of disappointment.

She nodded, transfixed by a glowing model of an electron.

One of them displayed a replica of the “Baghdad battery,” an ancient relic found in Iraq that is believed to be one of the world’s oldest batteries.

Kai pointed at an eager-looking teen boy, who grinned confidently as he pointed at the array of batteries on the table.

“Hey there!" Kai said as Auntie Lou wandered over, still trying and failing to take candid pictures.

I’m in college now. Been an intern here for three months.

They reached into their lab coat and pulled out a big red envelope with a flourish.

Lab tables covered in electrical components stood throughout the room, and museum staff with goggles on leaned over their work.

And the people who mine the metals to make the batteries have really tough working conditions and don’t get paid enough money. So the triple-Z battery is an experimental model that doesn’t require lithium.

They’re hard to get, because it’s just a prototype. A model to show how an idea works. It’s not something you can just buy in the store.

Then I trudged into my room...and there, the battery was waiting.

When I saw it, angels started singing and I heard the sound of harps and violins, and a mystical light shined down on it like the Sword in the Stone.

I dragged Ralph into the middle of the room, ripped the wrapping materials off the battery, and consulted the notebook.

As I danced, Ralph’s eyes followed me with a tiny whirring noise, his motion-sensing cameras tracking my moves.

USER DETECTED. INITIATING INTRODUCTORY SEQUENCE. GREETINGS. I AM RALPH.

Christopher had built Ralph to respond to commands only using his name as a keyword so he would know when someone was giving him directions or just talking. Similar to a phone, or a smart speaker. Without the voice command, Ralph would be overwhelmed by people talking around him and wouldn’t know the difference between instructions and regular conversation.

When six p.m. came around and Mom came through the door holding Amir, an armful of mail, and last-minute groceries, Ralph was standing in the foyer beaming at her with his funny green smile.

Ralph rumbled over and carefully took the grocery bags from her hands, then rolled into the kitchen, bumbling along on his tire-tread feet.

Mom continued to stand there, first staring at the spot where he had been standing, then staring at me. Finally, she seemed to get her bearings enough to complete her sentence.

“This is phenomenal,” she said. She looked at Ralph and spoke to him slowly, her voice raised. “YOU ARE VERY! HELPFUL!”

I WILL PUT THE BAG IN THE CAN, MAYA.
He did it perfectly on the first try, which was good because I had been pretty scared we would end up with garbage strewn across the alley, and spilling Amir’s used diapers would be an act of war against the neighborhood.