Mecanum wheel robotic platform for educational purposes: a cost-effective approach

This paper presents a cost-effective approach of a mecanum wheel robotic platform for educational propose on the development of an autonomous or remote controlled mobile robot with a four-wheel mecanum drive train. The main structure of the mobile robot was developed in Solidworks and it was built using additive manufacturing to validate in a real scenario. The main objective of developing this type of mobile platform was the ability to transport different types of cargo or robotic arm on industrial spaces or on rough terrain, since the implemented suspension mechanism allows the wheels contact to the floor. Another important objective is the maneuverability and the capacity to be guided in various environments, a great advantage in this type of mobile platform. An additional advantage of the developed mobile robot is the easy way to reconfigure the structure for new acquired parts.The authors acknowledge the support of RD Unit SYSTEC-Base (UIDB/00147/2020) and Programmatic (UIDP/00147/2020) funds, and also the support of Project Warehouse of the Future (WoF), with reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER-072638, co-funded by European RegionalDevelopment Fund (ERDF), through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE 2020)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Approaches to the teaching of design : an engineering subject centre guide

This booklet seeks to provide a resource for all those with an interest in design, and the education and training of engineering students to carry out the design process. A brief description of the internal and external requirements for design in the engineering curriculum is followed by a review of different approaches to design teaching currently employed in engineering schools and universities worldwide. Suggestions for further reading about each approach and a reference section are also provided

ROBOTICS COMPETITION-BASED LEARNING FOR 21ST CENTURY STEM EDUCATION

This article proposes the Robotics Competition-based Learning (R-CBL) in the 21st century learning environment to integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. This study has an attempt to highlight the connections between the STEM disciplines as well as the integration of 21st-century competencies to spark students’ interest towards the STEM. The problem statement revealed in this article is Malaysia may soon experience a serious human capital deficiency in the STEM field. Thus, it is important to practice a new pedagogy for 21st century integrated STEM education. The objectives of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of R-CBL to increase students’ interest towards STEM in “Robot Olympics Malaysia 2018”. The finding in this research shows the educational robotics as the digital tool can promote STEM learning among secondary school students. In conclusion, by practising Robotics Competition-based Learning in 21st century STEM classroom, learners are expected to have attentiveness in the integrated STEM curriculum. The implication of this pedagogy is to bridge the gap between the expected curriculums, written curriculum, and taught the curriculum. Keywords: robotics, competition, STEM education, 21st centur

Accelerating innovation with prize rewards: History and typology of technology prizes and a new contest design for innovation in African agriculture

"This paper describes how governments and philanthropic donors could drive innovation through a new kind of technology contest. We begin by reviewing the history of technology prizes, which operate alongside private intellectual property rights and public R&D to accelerate and guide productivity growth towards otherwise-neglected social goals. Proportional “prize rewards” would modify the traditional winner-take-all approach, by dividing available funds among multiple winners in proportion to measured achievement. This approach would provide a royalty-like payment for incremental success. The paper provides concludes with a specific example for how such prizes could be implemented to reward and help scale up successful innovations in African agriculture, through payments to innovators in proportion to the value created by their technologies after adoption. " from authors' abstractProductivity growth, Technology adoption, intellectual property, Agricultural R&D, Innovation,

Mastering the Hard Stuff: The History of College Concrete-Canoe Races and the Growth of Engineering Competition Culture

This article details the history of college engineering competitions, originating with student concrete-canoe racing in the 1970s, through today’s multi-million-dollar international multiplicity of challenges. Despite initial differences between engineering educators and industry supporters over the ultimate purpose of undergraduate competitions, these events thrived because they evolved to suit many needs of students, professors, schools, corporations, professional associations, and the engineering profession itself. The twenty-first-century proliferation of university-level competitions in turn encouraged a trickling-down of technical contests to elementary-age children and high schools, fostering the institutionalization of what might be called a competition culture in engineering

The Comparison between Intelligent Robot Surgery and Traditional Surgery

Briefly discuss the comparison between intelligent robot surgery and traditional surgery in terms of surgical effectiveness and accuracy. This article briefly discusses the advantages of intelligent robots from 9 aspects: controllable range, visualization level, optional modes, reference cases, surgical positioning, probability of error occurrence, patterning and credibility, support technology, and labor costs, and makes a forecast for the future of intelligent robot surgery

Robotics in child storytelling

Although the field of Educational Robotics (ER) has been growing over the last few years and its usefulness has been shown in many studies, its use in basic or elementary school levels has been scarce. This work intends to address the issue of demonstrating that ER makes a very useful tool at the elementary levels of learning, proposing a project-oriented approach, where interdisciplinary work uses children's stories and their imagination. The project involved the use of Lego Mindstorms robotics kits by students with ages between 9 and 12 years old. It involved the construction and programming of robots, addressing the dramatization of the popular tales "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Three little pigs" as the final goal. Also, other groups of students implemented fashion and dancing shows, also with robots. Each of the robots performed as one of the characters of the story/ show, following a set of steps according to the script that was programmed by the students. The work involved also a previous step where the robots were built and dressed according to its role. The final results show the applicability of ER to this level of learning/ teaching. The students were able to successfully complete the project, achieving the proposed aims and also showing high levels of motivation and enthusiasm through its whole duration. The work culminated with public shows thatUniversidade do Minho. Centro de Investigação em Educação (CIEd-UMINHO

A Study of educational robotics in elementary schools

Every teacher aims to find new pedagogical tools that motivate the students and that are ultimately effective in the teaching/learning process of a broad set of contents. Frequently, novel educational tools are developed that bring new sheds of hope to teachers, parents and students. Some of them are able to survive in the fierce competition, but most disappear in a short span of time. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), as a whole, have offered lots of promises to education, and some even talk about a huge revolution. Nowadays, it is certain that its impact on the classrooms is still far from these promises, mainly in what regards elementary education. But, it is undeniable that nowadays there are already a number of tools that can be used by teachers and students. The question is shifting from “Will we use ICT in education?” to “How can we use ICT in education to obtain good results?” In this context, Educational Robotics (ER), the research field that studies the application of Robotics as a pedagogical tool, has been growing in importance in the last few years as an emergent approach to Education. This development has been made possible by the technological advances in ICT and electronics, as well as by the progressive drop of costs