The Advanced Educational Robot

Abstract

Existing literature in the field of computer science education clearly demonstrates that robots can be ideal teaching tools for basic computer science concepts. Likewise, robots are an ideal platform for more complicated CS techniques such as evolutionary algorithms and neural networks. With these two distinct roles in mind, that of the teaching tool and that of the research tool, in collaboration with customers in the CS department we have developed a new robotics platform suitable for both roles that provides higher performance and improved ease-of-use in comparison to the robots currently in use at Union. We have successfully designed and built a medium-sized robotics platform for classroom and research use that provides better maneuverability, increased flexibility, and is easier to use than commercial equivalents at significantly lower cost. In particular, our robot provides a platform with human-level mobility suitable for use in human-machine interaction (HMI) research and testing. Using a combination of easily available off-the-shelf parts, newly available sensors, and open-source software, we have built a platform that is both easy enough for beginners to use but also powerful enough for advanced users to customize and adapt to their specific needs