The Lego robot encouraging kids to wash their hands

Young students in southern Taiwan have used Lego to build a robotic disinfectant dispenser which is helping their classmates protect themselves from the coronavirus.

Gloria Tso reports.

These kids in southern Taiwan are lining up outside for an unusual reason.

A friendly robot made with Legos is there to remind them to wash their hands.

The robot is an original creation by elementary school students in Kaohsiung encouraging classmates to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

Their robot detects a pair of hands using an ultrasonic sensor and then sprays disinfectant from a bottle.

(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 6TH GRADE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT, 12, CHEN PO-YU, SAYING: "After we completed (the robot) and put it outside, everyone thought it was very cool and were even more willing to disinfect (their hands)." Younger students helped by surrounding the robot with little Lego scenes of times that call for hand washing such as a hospital, or a toilet.

Teachers here at Linyuan Elementary decided students should learn robotics after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

They wanted to give kids the tools to think about how to solve real-world problems. The coronavirus is their latest topic to tackle.

The school's robotics coach says Lego works for students as a way into complex subjects.

(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) LEGO ROBOTICS COACH, 31, TSAI TE-WEI, SAYING: "Basically, the children already really like to play with Lego, so when they see this robot they are already very interested.

The hardest things to teach them are mechanical structure, accelerating and decelerating gearwheels, and other basic concepts." The school's robotics club has now gone on to win several prizes and represent Taiwan in many international competitions.