Marnie wins Renfrewshire Libraries’ Design a Robot competition

SCHOOLGIRL Marnie Dickson has designed a robot that will help keep humans and animals safe.

And the eight-year-old’s Safety Bot creation has won first prize in Renfrewshire Libraries’ Design A Robot competition.

Marnie, from Kilbarchan has now been presented with her prize of an iPad, donated by Renfrew-based business, Altrad Babcock who sponsored the competition, which was part of the libraries’ Summer Reading Challenge.

The Safety Bot has several arms to help and protect humans and animals. One Arm has a hose attached to put out fires; another arm has a First Aid kit attached; two arms has bags of animal food and finally, an arm is holding a Lollipop Stick used by school crossing patrols.

Marnie says: “I like drawing and I got my idea for the robot because I like animals, my mum’s a nurse and when I walk to school there are two Lollipop people helping me cross the road.”

Rebecca McFarlane, from Altrad Babcock said: “Altrad Babcock were pleased to support OneRen libraries to encourage children to get involved in their competition.

“When it came to choosing a winner, Marnie’s SafetyBot really stood out as safety is our number one value here at Altrad Babcock.

“Marnie’s attention to detail and creative design had the winning edge. Congratulations again to Marnie!”

Joyce Higgins, the Digital and Library Development Manager at OneRen said:

“We were amazed by the ingenious and creative designs from the hundreds of entries we received.

“Each library selected a winner, who received a goody bag containing a science kit.

“But Marnie was a worthy overall winner, as her robot design showed she had put a lot of thought into how her robot could help both people and animals.”

The individual library winners were –

Bob the Reader 2000 robot, by Camilla Dixon, from Bridge of Weir Library; Cacto, by Emily Castle, from Paisley Central Library; Camila, by Stella Cooper, from Bishopton Library; Doc Bot, by Eilidh Paton, from Lochwinnoch Library; Eco, by Lewis Thorrat from Foxbar Library and Ecotrom, by Lucy Crerar, from Skoobmobile.

Other winners were Envirobot, by Alexander Kirkland-Donald from Erskine Library; Environmental Emma, by Astrid Gibson from Glenburn Library; Life Robot, by Troy Knowles from Renfrew Library; Palbot, by Samuel Embuka from Linwood Library; R.o.b.  by Daisy Masterton from Ralston Library and Robecca, by Miina Abraouz from Ferguslie Park Library.

The Design A Robot was part of Gadgeteers, Summer Reading Challenge 2022 delivered by Renfrewshire Libraries in partnership with the Reading Agency.

There were 2705 children who signed up for the Challenge with certificates awarded to everyone who participated and medals to those who read six books or more.