Development of a Laboratory Kit for Robotics Engineering Education

Gregory S. Fischer, William R. Michalson, Taskin Padir, Gary PolliceWorcester Polytechnic Institute

Irina Tyshkevich

What is this paper about?

The development of a sequence of undergraduate courses in the Robotics Engineering (RBE) B.S. at Worcesters Polytechnic Institute (WPI)

It outlines the cost-effective laboratory robotics kit that they made for the undergraduate robotics education

The coursework is great because it can be adapted to graduate research as for exposing K-12 students to STEM

The Importance of Robotics

As robotics technology evolved, the interest of all ages in the field has steadily increased. What’s great about this, is that the inter-disciplinary nature of robotics “can be used to introduce students to the essence of engineering”

The Goals Of the RBE Program

Have a basic understanding of the fundamentals of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Systems Engineering

Apply abstract concepts and practical skills from the separate engineering disciplines together to design and construct robots and robotic systems for diverse applications

Have the imagination to see how robotics can be used to improve society and the entrepreneurial background and spirit to make their ideas become reality

Demonstrate the ethical behavior and standards expected of responsible professionals functioning in a diverse society

The Courses

[RBE 1001] Introduction to Robotics: “The goal is to capture students’ enthusiasm about robotics early in their engineering careers and keep the students engaged”.

[RBE 2001-2] Unified Robotics I-II: “The goal is to introduce students to the analysis of electrical and mechanical systems as well as the principles of software engineering”.

[RBE 3001-2] Unified Robotics III-IV: “The focus in RBE 3001 is on developing a deeper understanding of the types of devices they encountered… The focus in RBE 3002 is on integrating the information in the previous three courses into a complex robotic system”.

Laboratory Kit for RBE 3001-3002

Figure 1: Prototype EduArm system including the 2-Linkarm with DC motors, encoders, potentiometers, geartrains, magnetic gripper, sensors, control circuitry, andmicrocontroller.

Evaluation and Conclusion

Students are surveyed at the end of each course, and the RBE faculty annually reviews the data collected. Courses are constantly being revised.

“… it appears that our approach is leading to an effective way of teaching multidisciplinary skills to engineering students based on robotics education and the laboratory platform…”