Robotics for Everyone: Science Night in Dortmund Proves It

On September 25, Science Night in Dortmund brought science to the public across the city, with a dedicated Mi(n)tmach-Aktion floor offering participatory STEM activities for visitors of all ages. Natalia Ogorelysheva, a researcher at the Faculty of Computer Science at TU Dortmund University, was there with her robotics workshop - tucked in a corner near the emergency exit.
It did not stay quiet for long. For five consecutive hours, visitors kept coming. Kids and teenagers stopped at the booth, built Otto DIY robots from scratch, and left with a new perspective on what they are capable of. Adults shyly asked whether they could try it too - most of them had never built anything like it before, but had always wanted to. Those who had to wait for a free spot were not left idle: they watched the robot in action and were invited to name its components and guess the algorithm behind its behaviour.
As a PhD candidate researching Safety and Anomaly Management in Multi-Robot Systems and a member of the Diversity Commission of the Faculty of Computer Science, Natalia regularly takes robotics beyond the university: into schools, public events and community spaces - because she believes the real barriers are lack of access and exposure, not lack of ability.
