Overview of technologies for building robots in the classroom

This paper aims to give an overview of technologies that can be used to implement robotics within an educational context. We discuss complete robotics systems as well as projects that implement only certain elements of a robotics system, such as electronics, hardware, or software. We believe that Maker Movement and DIY trends offers many new opportunities for teaching and feel that they will become much more prominent in the future. Products and projects discussed in this paper are: Mindstorms, Vex, Arduino, Dwengo, Raspberry Pi, MakeBlock, OpenBeam, BitBeam, Scratch, Blockly and ArduBlock

A Development of Low Cost Wi-Fi Robot for Teaching Aid

A low-cost Wi-Fi robot as a teaching equipment is developed. The robot can be used to teach students in the subjects related to robotics system and internet of things (IoT). A Wi-Fi robot is a robot equipped with a Wi-Fi communication system for connecting to the internet. Integrating the robot with an IoT platform makes the robot able to communicate with other devices. The developed Wi-Fi robot in this study is a three-wheeled robot type. A NodeMCU ESP-12, which is a microcontroller equipped with Wi-Fi module, is applied in the robot. The robot is connected to the Blynk IoT platform and paired to a smartphone. It results in communication between the robot and the smartphone through the internet. The communication is demonstrated by remotely operating the robot using the smartphone. Mechanical structure and electronic wiring of the robot are simple such that the robot is easily built. Moreover, the cost of required components for building the robot is quite cheap as less than USD 20.A low-cost Wi-Fi robot as a teaching equipment is developed. The robot can be used to teach students in the subjects related to robotics system and internet of things (IoT). A Wi-Fi robot is a robot equipped with a Wi-Fi communication system for connecting to the internet. Integrating the robot with an IoT platform makes the robot able to communicate with other devices. The developed Wi-Fi robot in this study is a three-wheeled robot type. A NodeMCU ESP-12, which is a microcontroller equipped with Wi-Fi module, is applied in the robot. The robot is connected to the Blynk IoT platform and paired to a smartphone. It results in communication between the robot and the smartphone through the internet. The communication is demonstrated by remotely operating the robot using the smartphone. Mechanical structure and electronic wiring of the robot are simple such that the robot is easily built. Moreover, the cost of required components for building the robot is quite cheap as less than USD 20

A Project-based Learning approach for teaching Robotics to Undergraduates

In this research we used a project-based learning approach to teach robotics basics to undergraduate business computing students. The course coverage includes basic electronics, robot construction and programming using arduino. Students developed and tested a robot prototype. The project was evaluated using a questionnaire. The evaluation result shows that students developed skills in circuit design, problem-solving and robot development for addressing real world problems and team work. The students had challenges of using limited resources for robot circuit design and construction. The research results indicate that robotics education through project-based learning  motivates students to learn and implement computer artefact that addresses real world problems.Keywords: Robotics; Project-based learning; ICT

Introducing a Robotics Club in Albania

This project established a robotics club at the Harry Fultz Institute Technical High School in Tirana, Albania. We worked with a group of 24 enthusiastic students, divided into six teams, each directed by a student mentor. Employing a strategy of self-directed learning, we helped the teams design and build low-cost robots, culminating in an official presentation to the school. We assessed outcomes by documenting participant perceptions of the educational activities. Student participants reported that they valued the experience and that they would continue to engage in robotics activities after we left the country. We recommend that the Harry Fultz Institute continue the robotics club, and that other Albanian schools begin their own robotics programs

An open platform for teaching and project based work at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Robots are a great tool for engaging and enthusing students when studying a range of topics. De Montfort University offers a wide range of courses from University access courses to Doctoral training. We use robots as tools to teach technical concepts across this wide and diverse range of learners. We have had great success using the Lego RCX and now NXT on the less demanding courses, and conversely with the MobileRobots Pioneer range for postgraduate and research projects. Although there is a distinct area in between these two where both these platforms meet our needs, neither is suitable for every aspect of our work. For this reason we have developed our own hardware and software platform to fulfil all of our needs. This paper describes the hardware platform and accompanying software and looks at two applications which made use of this system. Our platform presents a low-cost system that enables students to learn about electronics, embedded systems, communication, bus systems, high and low level programming, robot architectures, and control algorithms, all in individual stages using the same familiar hardware and software

Mechatronics versus Robotics

In Bolton, mechatronics is defined as the integration of electronics, control engineering, and mechanical engineering, thus recognizing the fundamental role of control in joining electronics and mechanics. A robot is commonly considered as a typical mechatronic system, which integrates software, control, electronics, and mechanical designs in a synergistic manner. Robotics can be considered as a part of mechatronics; i.e., all robots are mechatronic systems, but not all mechatronic systems are robots. Advanced robots usually plan their actions by combining an assigned functional task with the knowledge about the environment in which they operate. By using a simplified approach, advanced robots could be defined as mechatronic devices governed by a smart brain, placed at a higher hierarchical level. Actuators are building blocks of any mechatronic system. Such systems, however, have a huge application span, ranging from low-cost consumer applications to high-end, high-precision industrial manufacturing equipment

Learning through designing robots in the framework of school graduation projects in Israel

This paper describes how students in Israel develop robots and participate in the Trinity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contests in the curricular framework of the school graduation project. We consider robotics projects developed in the Mevohot E’ron High School in 1999-2002 and specify the interdisciplinary activities of the teams designing fire-fighting robots. Our research focuses on the assessment of learning while working in the teams. The proposed approach is based on the triangulation of ethnographic observations of teamwork, examination of learning achievements, and analysis of robot contest surveys. Results of the study gave a picture of students’ behaviours at different stages of the design process, as needed for the individual assessment. As found, each of the students had made progress in a number of subjects and took a significant part in making the robot

Designing and Teaching Multidisciplinary Project-Based Courses to Satisfy the ABET 2000 Engineering Criteria

One important educational outcome required of any engineering programme, as per ABET 2000 Criteria 3, is the ability of engineering graduates to function in multidisciplinary teams. In order to address this requirement, the curriculum committees of the engineering programmes at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), Fort Wayne, USA, have designed several multidisciplinary project-based courses. These courses involve computer, electrical and mechanical engineering students. Five multidisciplinary project-based courses, which are distributed over the freshman, sophomore and senior years, have been developed and implemented. In these courses, real world multidisciplinary design experiences are used to prepare IPFW graduates to enter today’s workforce. In this article, the authors present a brief description of these courses along with the authors’ experiences in the development and teaching of the five multidisciplinary project-based courses

Smart-M3-based robot interaction in cyber-physical systems

Nowadays cyber-physical systems are spreading wide all over the world. One of the examples of cyber-physical system is a “smart home” devices interaction for home cleaning. The paper presents the interaction process between several physical devices through the Smart-M3-based smart space. These devices are robots that are modelling the vacuum cleaner behavior. For this purpose, the scenario of robots interaction in smart space is described in the paper. For the scenario implementation, robots should be constructed and programmed. The paper provides short survey of the most powerful robotic kits and description of its programming possibilities. The Lego Mindstorms EV3 Education kit is chosen for scenario implementation. The LeJOS is installed on the control block to extend its functionality. This functionality includes connection to the Smart-M3-based smart space and Java support for programming robot actions