SoftBank Group Corp. launched the Pepper Social Contribution Program*1 in April 2017, with the aim of lending the humanoid robot, Pepper for use in programming education and social contribution activities. By supporting educational activities in preparation for the mandatory subjects at Japanese elementary schools, the program contributed to fostering school kids and students to develop their abilities including logical-thinking, problem-solving and imagination. Furthermore, by lending Pepper to NPOs and other organizations, the program also contributed to help solve social challenges through the use of the robots.
Additionally, as a second initiative, we launched the Pepper Social Contribution Program 2*2, in April 2018, providing educational support to a greater number of children.
Sustainability
Pepper Programs
SoftBank Group Corp. implemented programs using the humanoid robot Pepper, to contribute to society and for educational purposes in Japan, China, the U.S., and Canada.
Pepper Programs in Japan
Support for computer programming that will be mandatory in Japan’s schools
Since 2020, SoftBank Robotics Corp. has taken over and operates the business from SoftBank Group Corp.
Since April 2021 onwards, SoftBank Robotics Corp. has taken the lead in operating the program for new applications.
Creation of Teaching Tools that Uses Pepper
To encourage the use of Pepper in areas beyond programming education, we provided the Robo Blocks School Template, which enables teachers to use the Robo Blocks* and formulate lesson plans easily. The teaching tool provides templates that allows interactions among teachers and children through Pepper robots in a class. By combining several templates, teachers can easily develop entire class programs that use Pepper.
Note: The Robo Blocks is a robot programming tool for the Pepper Social Contribution Program developed by SoftBank Group Corp. and SoftBank Robotics Corp. on the basis of the Scratch visual programming language.
Pepper Programs in China
Since May 2019 to September 2023, SoftBank Group Corp. promoted efforts to support talent development in the area of science and technology through the use of Pepper in Zhejiang Province, China. In this initiative, 2,000 Peppers were provided free of charge to the Zhejiang Sunshine Education Foundation, which then distributed them to educational institutions in Zhejiang Province. As a result, Pepper was provided in approximately 300 educational institutions in Zhejiang Province, including elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, and universities, used for advanced science and technology education, including programming and robotics. Additionally, we provided the Chinese language version of the Robo Blocks, programming reference books for teachers and more.
Pepper Programs in North America
Since November 2018 to September 2021, SoftBank Group Corp. has offered educational programs that use Pepper through schools and educational institutions in North America. SoftBank Group Corp. has donated over 100 Pepper to educational institutions such as San Francisco Unified School District in California, Boston Public Schools in Massachusetts, and Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. The Pepper are being used at events for promoting STREAM (science, technology, robotics, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education and at technology-related workshops.
Furthermore, the robots are being used for school public relations and other activities. For example, they are serving as receptionists and ambassadors in some schools.
