Increasing Students’ Interest With Low-Cost CellBots

This paper introduces the use of a flexible and affordable\ud educational robot specifically developed for the practical experimentation\ud inherent to technological disciplines. The robot has\ud been designed to be reconfigurable and extendible, serving as an\ud experimental platform across several undergraduate courses. As\ud most students have a mobile cell phone, this was used as the main\ud control computer for the so-called CellBot, thus avoiding any need\ud to deal with the details of microcontrollers or other embedded computing\ud devices. Assessment results are also presented, based on a\ud pre- and post-survey of student opinion administered to 204 science\ud and engineering students from several universities. Among\ud the conclusions are that 83% of the students prefer to use these\ud low-cost robots as tools to improve their learning of the theory in\ud several disciplines, and 71% of the students stated that they prefer\ud to have their own robot to experiment with, instead of using a didactic\ud kit loaned to them by the universityCNP

Didactic experiences involving mobile robotics having microfactory as context

In this paper an analysis of MicroFactory is carried out and the potential for generating a diversified set of didactic experiences based on it is evaluated. MicroFactory is a robotic competition based on a previously existing competition called Robot@Factory. Robot@Factory is a Portuguese robotic competition whose first edition was held in 2011 in Lisbon. The scenario of the competition simulates a factory which has two warehouses, and 8 processing machines. The flow of the materials inside the factory starts at the Incoming Warehouse and ends at the Outgoing Warehouse, eventually passing through one or more processing machines. The robots must collect, transport and position the materials along the process, having to self-localize and navigate while avoiding collisions with walls, obstacles and other robots. There is the option of following predefined tracks present on the floor to ease the navigation problem. Robot@Factory poses challenges like dynamic task scheduling, robot cooperation, trajectory planning, robot navigation with obstacle avoidance, robot self-localization and materials identification and manipulation. Related research contributes to improve AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicle systems) technology. Presently this competition is integrated in Festival Nacional de Robótica, a yearly event which attracts lots of public, contributing also to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) popularization. MicroFactory was conceived to be low-cost and easily implementable in a small space, be it a classroom or the school robotics club. The ground area of the factory scenario was reduced to approximately one ninth of its original value. The scenario materials were simplified – the floor is now an A0 printed sheet and the warehouses and machines dimensions are so that they can be 3D printed or made out of LEGOTM bricks; both machines and parts had active elements with LEDs and now they are passive. Besides the competition scenario it was also conceived an official robot for the competition. It’s a 3D printed robot, based on Arduino and cheap common electronic parts. The creation of this competition is part of a wider Open Source project, aiming to develop project-based collaborative didactic experiences involving robotics and low-cost 3D printed educational robots based on generic electronics to support those experiences. Currently efforts are being dedicated to the inclusion of more sensors in the competition robot, namely low-cost distance sensors and a weight sensor at the claws, the inclusion of different kinds of motors, the development of a new version of the robot incorporating a Raspberry Pi board, the development of a very precise robot localization system, and the conception of a diversified set of didactic experiences based on the MicroFactory competition. This article presents an analysis of MicroFactory and of its inherent challenges. Through this analysis it will be possible to identify topics that can be taught and learned while developing robots to participate in the competition, and to collect elements that will be very useful in the planning and implementation of didactic experiences that work those topics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Enhancing motivation and learning in engineering courses: a challenge-based approach to teaching embedded systems

This paper addresses an approach to teaching embedded systems programming through a challenge-based competition involving robots. This pedagogical project distinguishes itself by incorporating international students from three international institutions through the Blended Intensive Program (BIP). The research findings indicate that this approach yields excellent results regarding student engagement and learning outcomes. The challenge-based program effectively promotes students’ creative problem-solving abilities by combining theoretical instruction with hands-on experience in a competitive setting.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CeDRI (UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDP/05757/2020), SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2021) and project LA/P/0063/2020. This work was supported by Blended Intensive Programme ID: 2021- 1-PT01-KA131-HED-000004268-2, Embedded Systems Applications. The authors thank CEFET/RJ, the Institute of Engineering and the Research Centre on Bio-based Economy of Hanze University of Applied Sciences, the ERASMUS program, and the Brazilian research agencies CAPES, CNPq, and FAPERJ.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Method for Reading Sensors and Controlling Actuators Using Audio Interfaces of Mobile Devices

This article presents a novel closed loop control architecture based on audio channels of several types of computing devices, such as mobile phones and tablet computers, but not restricted to them. The communication is based on an audio interface that relies on the exchange of audio tones, allowing sensors to be read and actuators to be controlled. As an application example, the presented technique is used to build a low cost mobile robot, but the system can also be used in a variety of mechatronics applications and sensor networks, where smartphones are the basic building blocks

Mendieta, un robot por escuela: robot de uso concurrente para la educación tecnológica

En los últimos años ha crecido el uso material concreto tecnológico en las escuelas de Argentina. La inserción de la robótica en el aula permite abordar un conjunto de contenidos vinculados con la tecnología, como aspectos mecánicos, electrónicos y de programación. No es casual que el sistema educativo argentino haya incorporado en su diseño curricular contenidos vinculados a la disciplina, como el surgimiento de una nueva orientación técnica dirigida a la programación y la robótica. Sin embargo, los costos de equipamiento, la complejidad de mantenimiento, los conocimientos técnicos necesarios para su uso y un correcto aprovechamiento didáctico del recurso son limitantes para que la robótica llegue a todas las escuelas. Por estos motivos se ha diseñado un proyecto que supere estas dificultades: un robot autónomo de bajo costo controlado mediante un Arduino Nano, con un servidor web incorporado en una computadora Orange Pi, que permite la programación de todo un curso al mismo tiempo, encolando los pedidos de ejecución de manera tal que con un único dispositivo se pueda llevar adelante la clase en forma dinámica. Esto permite introducir la robótica con material concreto en una escuela con un valor menor a los USD 180. Por otra parte, todo el desarrollo es de hardware y código abierto, ofreciendo a la comunidad un framework para el surgimiento de otras propuestas con la misma arquitectura.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Uso de las plataformas LEGO y Arduino en la enseñanza de la programación

Cada vez es más común que los grados de ingeniería y ciencia incluyan la enseñanza de la programación en sus planes de estudio. Estas asignaturas suponen un auténtico desafío para los profesores encargados ya que muchos estudiantes encuentran bastantes dificultades en su primer encuentro con la programación. En la actualidad existen enfoques docentes innovadores que pueden ayudar en esta tarea, la computación física es uno de los más prometedores. Ésta introduce los conceptos de la programación en el mundo real para que el alumno interaccione con ellos. Utilizando este paradigma hemos desarrollado un conjunto de recursos docentes para la enseñanza de la programación en ciencias e ingeniería. Se han preparado un conjunto de demostraciones para ser utilizadas en clase de teoría y varios módulos para ser utilizados por los alumnos en el laboratorio. Las experiencias de teoría y de laboratorio se apoyan en las plataformas Arduino -una microcontroladora open hardware- y LEGO -una plataforma robótica educativa. El material desarrollado ha sido evaluado en un curso de programación dentro del grado de Biología y con estudiantes voluntarios de primero de Matemáticas. Los resultados han sido positivos: se ha incrementado el número de estudiantes que aprenden a programar satisfactoriamente y disfrutan programando. Estos resultados indican que el uso de este recurso docente como complemento a la docencia tradicional mejora el aprendizaje de los estudiantes facilitando la labor del profesor.SUMMARY -- Engineers and scientists increasingly rely on computers for their work. As a consequence most science and engineering degrees have introduced a computer programming course in their curricula. However, lecturers face a complex task when teaching this subject: students consider the subject to be unrelated to their core interests and often feel uncomfortable when learning to program for the first time. Several studies have proposed the use of the physical computing paradigm. This paradigm takes the computational concepts “out of the screen” and into the real world so that the student can interact with them. Using this paradigm we have designed and implemented several introductory programming learning modules for an introductory programming course in science and engineering. These modules are to be used in lectures and laboratory sessions. We selected the Arduino board –an electronic board- and LEGO –a robotic platform- as the hardware platform. The effectiveness of the modules was assessed by comparing two programming courses: in one the teacher used traditional methods; in the other he complemented these with the modules. We evaluated the modules in a programming course for Biology students and found that they were highly effective: more students learned to program and more students enjoyed programming. These results suggest that the physical computing paradigm involves the student more effectively in the learning process

Robotik@, a strategy to motivate students to choose engineering careers.

Educational robotics is a demonstrated didactical strategy that motivates students to consider engineering careers and benefits both their professional development as well as the learning process. This paper shows an experience carried out in the city of Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) that includes training teachers and facilitating them to take into consideration teaching educational robotics in the secondary school curriculum. The teachers’ training was based on the use of ROBOTREINO, an OER intended to be an educational resource for teachers that introduces them to the world of Educational Robotics. After the training, teachers were able to offer secondary education students a learning experience called ROBOTIK@ based on the use of mobile robots in the field of physics.  The experience shows promising results

An Approach for Environment Mapping and Control of Wall Follower Cellbot Through Monocular Vision and Fuzzy System

This paper presents an approach using range measurement through homography calculation to build 2D visual occupancy grid and control the robot through monocular vision. This approach is designed for a Cellbot architecture. The robot is equipped with wall following behavior to explore the environment, which enables the robot to trail objects contours, residing in the fuzzy control the responsibility to provide commands for the correct execution of the robot movements while facing the adversities in the environment. In this approach the Cellbot camera works as a sensor capable of correlating the images elements to the real world, thus the system is capable of finding the distances of the obstacles and that information is used for the occupancy grid mapping and for fuzzy control input. Experimental results with V-REP simulator are presented to validate the proposal, and the results were favorable to the use in robotics and in acceptable computing time.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativa (SADIO

An educational robotic approach for improvements of learning in technology courses / Uma abordagem de robótica educacional para melhoria da aprendizagem em cursos de tecnologia

The Rubik’s cube is one of the most popular puzzles in the world. It is estimated that one in seven people have already played with the cube. There are several ways to solve the cube problem and some people solve without a technique help, however, this is a laborious and tiring practice. The existing methods range from the simplest to the most complex, and it influences the time that will be spent in the solution. A robotic solution can implement one or more of these methods to solve the Rubik’s cube in an automatic way. Considering this, this work proposes a low-cost micro controlled system to solve Rubik’s cube. This prototype is intended to be used in classrooms for the teaching-learning process improvement, and consequently also improve the students’ performance in disciplines of logic and algorithms

Uso de las plataformas LEGO y Arduino en la enseñanza de la programación

Cada vez es más común que los grados de ingeniería y ciencia incluyan la enseñanza de la programación en sus planes de estudio. Estas asignaturas suponen un auténtico desafío para los profesores encargados ya que muchos estudiantes encuentran bastantes dificultades en su primer encuentro con la programación. En la actualidad existen enfoques docentes innovadores que pueden ayudar en esta tarea, la computación física es uno de los más prometedores. Ésta introduce los conceptos de la programación en el mundo real para que el alumno interaccione con ellos. Utilizando este paradigma hemos desarrollado un conjunto de recursos docentes para la enseñanza de la programación en ciencias e ingeniería. Se han preparado un conjunto de demostraciones para ser utilizadas en clase de teoría y varios módulos para ser utilizados por los alumnos en el laboratorio. Las experiencias de teoría y de laboratorio se apoyan en las plataformas Arduino -una microcontroladora open hardware- y LEGO -una plataforma robótica educativa. El material desarrollado ha sido evaluado en un curso de programación dentro del grado de Biología y con estudiantes voluntarios de primero de Matemáticas. Los resultados han sido positivos: se ha incrementado el número de estudiantes que aprenden a programar satisfactoriamente y disfrutan programando. Estos resultados indican que el uso de este recurso docente como complemento a la docencia tradicional mejora el aprendizaje de los estudiantes facilitando la labor del profesor.Engineers and scientists increasingly rely on computers for their work. As a consequence most science and engineering degrees have introduced a computer programming course in their curricula. However, lecturers face a complex task when teaching this subject: students consider the subject to be unrelated to their core interests and often feel uncomfortable when learning to program for the first time. Several studies have proposed the use of the physical computing paradigm. This paradigm takes the computational concepts “out of the screen” and into the real world so that the student can interact with them. Using this paradigm we have designed and implemented several introductory programming learning modules for an introductory programming course in science and engineering. These modules are to be used in lectures and laboratory sessions. We selected the Arduino board –an electronic board- and LEGO –a robotic platform- as the hardware platform. The effectiveness of the modules was assessed by comparing two programming courses: in one the teacher used traditional methods; in the other he complemented these with the modules. We evaluated the modules in a programming course for Biology students and found that they were highly effective: more students learned to program and more students enjoyed programming. These results suggest that the physical computing paradigm involves the student more effectively in the learning process.Este trabajo ha contado con el apoyo de la Universidad de Granada a través del proyecto PID/13-54