When the idea of completing an Extended Project Qualification for the AQA Bacc was first put to us, my thoughts went straight to robotics.
The EPQ allows complete freedom to choose a topic that interests you and for me, that's robotics and technology. Having read the New Scientist for a few years now, I noticed that I was always drawn to the work on machines, systems, AI and robotics. So when I was given the chance to spend 120 hours on a topic that interested me in order to achieve a qualification, the picture on the right came to mind!
Asimo is responsible for piquing my interest. He featured on my much-loved QI, and also appeared in James May's Big Ideas programme on robotics and humanoid robots. It was a new, exciting innovation and I thought it was brilliant.
I first thought to pursue a topic which would allow me to do some in-depth research and some research/case-study of my own alongside it. I live near a chicken farm which I know benefits from robotics systems; a robot is used to sort and pack eggs.
I thought I could investigate whether robots in industry are worth their financial investment (initial cost and maintenance) by looking at how they have helped businesses increase profit and efficiency. This should give me enough information for a 5000 word essay, but my title will need to be more specific, because there are many cases of robotics in industry I could study.
At this point, I have not considered a practical investigation - an EPQ comprising of an 'artefact' and a shorter, 2000 (approx.) word essay.
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