Bobby's Flying Autonomous Pterodactylus Robot 🐻

Sleep Tight Stories - Bedtime Stories for Kids

Bobby, a young inventor, successfully launches his autonomous pterodactylus robot designed to fly to Bernice's house, deliver cookies, and r

Key takeaways

Autonomous technology can be exciting but requires safeguards for unexpected situations.

Main topics

Autonomous robotics
Child-led innovation

Notable quotes

Mom, I'm not flying it. That's the whole point. Once I launch it, it flies by itself.

Conclusion

Bobby's successful yet flawed autonomous flight teaches him a valuable lesson: even the

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:01) My name's Gianna. Welcome to Sleep Tight Steps. Speaker 2 (0:16) Bobby has been working very hard over the summer on his new robot, but has had a few issues along the way. His mother and father have told him he cannot fly anything around the neighborhood after the problem with his last robot. but he tries to convince them that he won't be flying this one. It will fly on its own. Bobby reaches out to Bernice to get her help with the test flight, and then he is ready to go. Bobby's Flying Autonomous Pterodactylus Robot Speaker 2 (1:06) But mom, I'm not flying it. That's the whole point. Once I launch it, it flies by itself. So technically, I'm not flying anything. Bobby's mother looked across the breakfast table at him. You know perfectly well what your father and I meant. I know what you said. You said I couldn't fly anything around the neighborhood after the little problem with my last robot. Little problem? Okay, maybe it wasn't super little, but this is completely different. I won't even have a controller in my hands. That's what autonomous means. Speaker 2 (1:53) His mother took a sip of coffee and looked at him for a moment. Mom, those were super delicious pancakes, by the way. You really outdid yourself this time. Simply the world's most delicious pancakes ever. Uh-huh. Well, I'm glad you liked them. I thought I might make something special since it's about the end of summer. Don't forget to finish your fruit. Speaker 2 (2:22) Mom, didn't we have a rule that we don't talk about the end of summer? You don't want me to be sad, do you? Because then I frown. And when I frown, the corners of my mouth get tired. And well, we can't have that, can we? Bobby's mother sighed. You are right. We do have time left before we get back into our school routine. See, Mom, I am very much the most positive genius you have ever known. You're very modest, too, his mother said with a smile. It looks like a beautiful day. Why don't you give some of your friends a call and go outside and play? Speaker 2 (3:07) I'm too old to play, Mom. Besides, we don't play anymore. We hang out and stuff. And I know it's super nice out and I will go outside, but this robot is just too important. I'm almost finished and I might be able to launch it today. I think I might call Bernice, though, because she's been helping me with some of the design stuff all summer and I think she's going to be impressed. Speaker 2 (3:35) Helping you build it? Not exactly. More like asking questions about things I might have forgotten. She does that a lot. Weren't you making a model plane that could fly? Something Speaker 1 (3:50) you and your dad could launch at the park? Speaker 2 (3:53) Yeah, we could do that too. But this is much more than a flying plane. It's a super flying pterodactylus with special features and a brain. It's my upgrade to Project Dimorphodon after its unfortunate demise. I thought Project Dimorphodon crashed. Well, yes, but it didn't completely die. I repaired most of it. The wings are still a little bit weird, but I think it gives it character. And I added a solar panel so the battery can charge when it's outside. Speaker 2 (4:31) His mother put down her coffee. And I upgraded the screech. What screech? You remember the dinosaur screech? Before, it would just go off and scare everyone at random, which wasn't ideal. Now it's more specific, I think, so I have a much better idea when it's going to happen. Speaker 2 (4:53) How much better? Pretty good. Bobby, we had an agreement. Don't worry, Mom. Nothing should explode. I'm almost sure of it. Bobby? Really, Mom, it's okay. Everything I used is off the shelf. And the electronics store wouldn't sell us anything that exploded, would they? It's not the store