Professional Documents
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Engineering
Authors:
Uwe Gerecke, Learning Lab Lower Saxony (L3S), University of Hanover, Germany, gerecke@learninglab.de
Bernardo Wagner, Learning Lab Lower Saxony (L3S), University of Hanover, Germany, wagner@learninglab.de
Patrick Hohmann, Learning Lab Lower Saxony (L3S), University of Hanover, Germany, hohmann@learninglab.de
Abstract Robots offer an excellent basis for teaching a number of different engineering disciplines and their integration
into systems. To accomplish courses and projects, universities need robot platforms which are flexible and modular so they
can be easily customized to the requirements of different subjects. This paper introduces the concepts of our Modular
Educational Robotic Toolbox (MoRob) project, which aims to design and develop an advanced mobile robot system for
teaching undergraduate and graduate students as well as for PhD research. At the core of our system is the Scalable
Processing Box (SPB), a standardized processing platform for easy experimentation with any kind of robotic platform. Key
characteristics are scalable performance, modular setup to facilitate tailoring to individual courses, flexible interfaces and
easy configuration. Furthermore, MoRob aims to provide a standard set of control modules and teaching units, with a
particular focus on project-based learning. Therefore, our framework not only supplies an educational robotic platform and
improves student learning, it also supports teaching by reusable and sustaining material.
Index Terms Educational Robotics, Robot Curricula, Evaluation of Robotics Courses, Problem-Based Learning,
Autonomous Mobile Robots.
INTRODUCTION
Robotics is the topic of constructing artefacts that couple perception to action to allow a system to carry out purposeful tasks
for humans [2][9]. In recent years, research activity in the field of mobile robots has gained considerable momentum, and
with its growing success attention is not only received in the scientific community, but also in industry. Autonomous robots
constitute a clear emerging market for a large variety of potential application in a range comprising service robots,
entertainment robots, as well as achieving tasks in hazardous environments or disaster areas.
Going along with this development, universities teach an increasing number of courses in robotics and research students
carry out dissertation projects in this area. It is an interdisciplinary subject that involves mechanical, electrical, control, and
computer engineering. A key component is the need to integrate these disciplines in order to construct systems. Therefore, it
offers an excellent basis for teaching a number of different engineering disciplines and their integration into systems.
Robots also provide an excellent platform for demonstration of basic engineering problems in the educational effort.
Practical exercises in student projects help to develop skills like creativity, teamwork, designing and problem solving. A great
advantage of using robots as demonstration tools is that abstract concepts can be turned into real-world problems and
solutions [7]. Motivation is improved when real-world objects are included. In robotics projects this is the case as students
can see, touch and play with their project [6]. Experiences with courses utilizing robots have been reported e.g. on software
engineering projects [8], genetic programming [3], Artificial Intelligence [13], data structures courses [5]. Using robots,
progress can be achieved in both theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. Reference [1] identified 17 fields in which
considerable progress could be made while working on a robot contest, including physics, mathematics, systems design and
teamwork practice. Robots are very popular and stimulating for university students [16] and can also be used as a
motivational factor to attract high-school students to take engineering courses [11].
The remainder of this paper describes our approach to provide a flexible and modular robot platform for university
teaching and research. First, the general concepts of our MoRob (Modular Educational Robotic Toolbox) project are
introduced, followed by a description of the Scalable Processing Box (SPB). Then, the focus is set on applications in project-
based learning and educational evaluation of the project, before concluding the paper.
For this first phase of evaluation within MoRob, the mini-project within our hardware lab was one of the courses to be
looked at. The other two courses will take place in spring 2003, after which full analysis of results will be carried out.
However, a few insights can be reported after a first look at this part of the evaluation with our Lego participants: within the
problem-based learning task, students could bring in their own ideas to a large extent and had to acquire new knowledge on
their own. The tutor only had to give little directions and students could organize their work freely. Teamwork and
communication skills were felt to be among the most important things learned during this project. Many students felt that this
was the best or most interesting project work they had ever done. Overall, the students judged the Lego platform and its
environment as positive and appropriate. However, there were a large number of individual comments highlighting the
shortcomings of this platform, for example: imprecise sensors, limited software, small memory, problems with
multithreading and arithmetic.
Students were highly motivated on this course and usually achieved more than was expected. For example, the quality of
presentations was higher than expected, showing that the students put in a lot of effort to show their work. One group even
had the first prototype ready from the time the kits were handed over until the first official group meeting, where the project
was meant to be kicked off. Similar observations have been made in other Lego projects as well [e.g. 6].
CONCLUSIONS
Robots are a perfectly suitable tool to support education in many different disciplines. They can be applied in teaching,
demonstrating, exercises and lab classes and in research projects at universities. This paper presented the concepts of our
MoRob project, which aims to provide the infrastructure and support the teaching efforts when using such tools. The Scalable
Processing Box at the core of our system is a powerful and flexible processing platform for easy experimentation with any
kind of robotic platform. It provides a framework for simple usage of standardized interfaces and algorithms when working
with robots. The basic robot modules which we are developing are flexible and powerful enough to be used at all levels from
introductory courses to advanced research projects. The benefits of our project are to supply an educational robotic platform,
improve student learning especially in robotics, mechatronics, autonomous systems and computer science, increase the
attractiveness of learning through facilitation of problem-based and experimental learning while performing student projects
(learning by doing), and support teaching by reusable and sustaining material. The modular toolbox should also close the gap
between research in robotics and current teaching. This will improve and increase the attractiveness of teaching because it
will be much easier to integrate research results in education than it is possible today.
Within the context of this project, robots are used in student projects. Lego Mindstorms has been successfully applied at
introductory level, and insights from this are incorporated into a new Masters degree in Systems Design, using other, higher-
level platforms. The Lego project was also used to start initial evaluation of our project and the current state of our robotics
teaching. This proved the benefits of robotics projects in teaching. Further and more extensive evaluation will take place
during the next project phase. The different subjects involved in our design tasks clearly underline the interdisciplinarity of
robotics. Our new system will not only allow for easy construction of robot systems and their use in robotics courses, it will
also be applicable as a vehicle for experimentation in courses on other subjects like programming, signal processing, control
theory and artificial intelligence. Therefore a standardized teaching environment will emerge which will be easy to use in a
variety of applications.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project has been supported with funding from the German Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF). We would also
like to acknowledge cooperation from the Institute for Systems Engineering, University of Hanover.
FIGURES
FIGURE 1
ARCHITECTURE OF THE SCALABLE PROCESSING BOX.
FIGURE 3
THE PIONEER 2AT MOBILE ROBOT.
FIGURE 4
FIRE-FIGHTING LEGO ROBOT BUILT BY STUDENTS.