Development of a set of mobile robots for basic programming experimentation

Abstract

Mobile robots platforms are being used in different Educational contexts such as primary, middle and high school levels of education. A review of the state of the art shows that 197 papers have been published in this field of knowledge over the last 10 years [1]. Nowadays, Latin America faces a serious problem regarding student enrollment in engineering programs with a ratio of one graduated Engineer per every 4500 to 10000 people [2] depending on country. In Colombia, the SPADIES program [3] states that an important aspect of the dropout was due to the lack of motivation and interaction of students with real artifacts that linked the theory and the practice. In this work, a set of programmable mobile robots were developed considering different levels of knowledge, as a tool for basic programming experimentation. The set of mobile robots embodies sensors for proximity, line, light, inertial, and vision. Moreover, this set also incorporates tools such as Bluetooth, LEDs-ring and, a mechanical support for an erasable marker. This set of mobile robots consolidates a hands-on tool to introduce students to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The results reported in this paper show the mobile robots functionality when they are programmed using different levels of complexity.

Keywords

• Mobile robots
• Engineering education
• Basic programming