“I didn’t think I was an inventor for years,” says robotics engineer Danielle Boyer. But the 23-year-old Ojibwe creator embodied the title long before she embraced it—she designed her first robot at 17. That initial prototype became EKGAR (which stands for “Every Kid Gets a Robot”), a $20 remote-control car kit that teaches Indigenous students technical skills. She 3D prints them from recycled plastic in her home studio and has shipped more than 11,000 at no cost to recipients.
Boyer’s second robot, SkoBot, is her baby, born to help teach the endangered Ojibwe language, Anishinaabemowin, and other Indigenous languages. SkoBots are about 10 inches tall, wearable, and pretty freakin’ cute. The latest generation includes a makwa (bear) and a waabooz (rabbit) designed in collaboration with an Ojibwe tattoo artist from Boyer’s home state of Michigan. “Kids love them; kids relate to them,” Boyer says.
SkoBots sense motion and say “boozhoo” (hello) and other phrases in response. Boyer’s nonprofit, STEAM Connection, provides the kits for free, and students build the SkoBots themselves. Boyer is currently recording more words in the voices of Ojibwe children and elders (including her grandmother) to expand the robots’ repertoire.