Cellular Automata Applications in Shortest Path Problem

Cellular Automata (CAs) are computational models that can capture the essential features of systems in which global behavior emerges from the collective effect of simple components, which interact locally. During the last decades, CAs have been extensively used for mimicking several natural processes and systems to find fine solutions in many complex hard to solve computer science and engineering problems. Among them, the shortest path problem is one of the most pronounced and highly studied problems that scientists have been trying to tackle by using a plethora of methodologies and even unconventional approaches. The proposed solutions are mainly justified by their ability to provide a correct solution in a better time complexity than the renowned Dijkstra's algorithm. Although there is a wide variety regarding the algorithmic complexity of the algorithms suggested, spanning from simplistic graph traversal algorithms to complex nature inspired and bio-mimicking algorithms, in this chapter we focus on the successful application of CAs to shortest path problem as found in various diverse disciplines like computer science, swarm robotics, computer networks, decision science and biomimicking of biological organisms' behaviour. In particular, an introduction on the first CA-based algorithm tackling the shortest path problem is provided in detail. After the short presentation of shortest path algorithms arriving from the relaxization of the CAs principles, the application of the CA-based shortest path definition on the coordinated motion of swarm robotics is also introduced. Moreover, the CA based application of shortest path finding in computer networks is presented in brief. Finally, a CA that models exactly the behavior of a biological organism, namely the Physarum's behavior, finding the minimum-length path between two points in a labyrinth is given.Comment: To appear in the book: Adamatzky, A (Ed.) Shortest path solvers. From software to wetware. Springer, 201

Integrating Robotics into First-Year Experience Courses

Robotics are a popular component of many introductory engineering and computer science courses. At Southern Adventist University, the School of Computing faculty decided to integrate robotics into a discipline-specific section of the University’s first-year experience course. The integration of robotics into a first-year experience course has created a hands-on introduction to college life within the Computing discipline while introducing students to the problem-solving process. This paper will introduce a very low-cost robotic platform kit ($50-75) that has been developed for the first-year experience course. Student assessment data from the first offering of this course with the SouthernBot 2.0 kit shows that overall, students were engaged in the open-ended design projects completed during the building of the robot platform

Coding as literacy in preschool: a case study

Coding is increasingly recognized as a new literacy that should be encouraged at a young age. This understanding has recontextualized computer science as a compulsory school subject and has informed several developmentally appropriate approaches to computation, including for preschool children. This study focuses on the introduction of three approaches to computation in preschool (3–6 years), specifically computational thinking, programming, and robotics, from a cross-curricular perspective. This paper presents preliminary findings from one of the case studies currently being developed as part of project KML II—Laboratory of Technologies and Learning of Programming and Robotics for Preschool and Elementary School. The purpose of the KML II project is to characterize how approaches to computation can be integrated into preschool and elementary education, across different knowledge domains. The conclusions point to “expression and communication” as an initial framework for computational approaches in preschool, but also to multidisciplinary and more creative methodological activities that offer greater scope for the development of digital and computational competences, as well as for personal and social development.This research was funded under the project KML II—Laboratory of technologies and learning of programming and robotics for preschool and elementary school, which is co-funded by FEDER through the COMPETE 2020- Operational Thematic Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and national funds through FCT- Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under project reference number PTDC/CED-EDG/28710/2017

The Acquisition of Computational Thinking through Mentoring: An Exploratory Study

Educational robotics are commonly present in kindergarten and primary school classrooms, particularly Bee-bot. Its ease of use allows the introduction of computer programming to young children in educational contexts from a science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) perspective. Despite this rise, there are still few investigations that collect evidence on the effectiveness of robotic interventions. Although mentoring experiences with robotics had been carried out in educational contexts, this work explores their effect on the acquisition of computational thinking skills through mentoring. Participants from the second grade, aged seven through eight years, were exposed to two sessions of robotics with Bee-bot in order to promote hands-on experimentation. The sessions were conducted by nine students of the fourth grade (the mentors), aged 10 to 11 years. A descriptive case-study methodology was employed for the analysis of the mentoring intervention. The effect of the mentoring experience was assessed in terms of motivation and computational thinking skills. Mixed quantitative and qualitative results show two important findings: (i) Mentoring is a powerful tool to be considered for improvement of the motivation and cooperation of students in their teaching-learning process, and (ii) computational thinking skills can be acquired by second-grade students through a mentoring process

Ten years of Educational Robotics in a Primary School

AbstractMany researchers and teachers agree that the inclusion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in early education provides strong motivation and greatly improves the speed of learning. Most primary school curricula include a number of concepts that cover science and mathematics, but less effort is placed in teaching problem-solving, computer science, technology and robotics. The use of robotic systems and the introduction of robotics as a curriculum subject educates children in the basics of technology, and gives them additional human and organizational values. This paper presents a new program introduced in an Italian primary school, thanks to a collaboration with National Instruments and Università Politecnica delle Marche. Specifically, the project's curricular aim was to improve logic, creativity, and the ability to focus, all of which are lacking in today's generation of students. The subject of robotics will be part of the primary school's curriculum for all five years. The program has delivered training to the teachers, and a complete program in which children have demonstrated great learning abilities, not only in technology, but also in collaboration and teamwork

Integrating mobile robotics and vision with undergraduate computer science

This paper describes the integration of robotics education into an undergraduate Computer Science curriculum. The proposed approach delivers mobile robotics as well as covering the closely related field of Computer Vision, and is directly linked to the research conducted at the authors’ institution. The paper describes the most relevant details of the module content and assessment strategy, paying particular attention to the practical sessions using Rovio mobile robots. The specific choices are discussed that were made with regard to the mobile platform, software libraries and lab environment. The paper also presents a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of student results, including the correlation between student engagement and performance, and discusses the outcomes of this experience

Virtual laboratories for education in science, technology, and engineering: A review

Within education, concepts such as distance learning, and open universities, are now becoming more widely used for teaching and learning. However, due to the nature of the subject domain, the teaching of Science, Technology, and Engineering are still relatively behind when using new technological approaches (particularly for online distance learning). The reason for this discrepancy lies in the fact that these fields often require laboratory exercises to provide effective skill acquisition and hands-on experience. Often it is difficult to make these laboratories accessible for online access. Either the real lab needs to be enabled for remote access or it needs to be replicated as a fully software-based virtual lab. We argue for the latter concept since it offers some advantages over remotely controlled real labs, which will be elaborated further in this paper. We are now seeing new emerging technologies that can overcome some of the potential difficulties in this area. These include: computer graphics, augmented reality, computational dynamics, and virtual worlds. This paper summarizes the state of the art in virtual laboratories and virtual worlds in the fields of science, technology, and engineering. The main research activity in these fields is discussed but special emphasis is put on the field of robotics due to the maturity of this area within the virtual-education community. This is not a coincidence; starting from its widely multidisciplinary character, robotics is a perfect example where all the other fields of engineering and physics can contribute. Thus, the use of virtual labs for other scientific and non-robotic engineering uses can be seen to share many of the same learning processes. This can include supporting the introduction of new concepts as part of learning about science and technology, and introducing more general engineering knowledge, through to supporting more constructive (and collaborative) education and training activities in a more complex engineering topic such as robotics. The objective of this paper is to outline this problem space in more detail and to create a valuable source of information that can help to define the starting position for future research

Teaching Software Engineering through Robotics

This paper presents a newly-developed robotics programming course and reports the initial results of software engineering education in robotics context. Robotics programming, as a multidisciplinary course, puts equal emphasis on software engineering and robotics. It teaches students proper software engineering -- in particular, modularity and documentation -- by having them implement four core robotics algorithms for an educational robot. To evaluate the effect of software engineering education in robotics context, we analyze pre- and post-class survey data and the four assignments our students completed for the course. The analysis suggests that the students acquired an understanding of software engineering techniques and principles

Embodied Evolution in Collective Robotics: A Review

This paper provides an overview of evolutionary robotics techniques applied to on-line distributed evolution for robot collectives -- namely, embodied evolution. It provides a definition of embodied evolution as well as a thorough description of the underlying concepts and mechanisms. The paper also presents a comprehensive summary of research published in the field since its inception (1999-2017), providing various perspectives to identify the major trends. In particular, we identify a shift from considering embodied evolution as a parallel search method within small robot collectives (fewer than 10 robots) to embodied evolution as an on-line distributed learning method for designing collective behaviours in swarm-like collectives. The paper concludes with a discussion of applications and open questions, providing a milestone for past and an inspiration for future research.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl