Robotics in Education: RiE 2021

Description

This book comprises the latest achievements in research and development in educational robotics presented at the 12th International Conference on Robotics in Education (RiE), which was carried out as a purely virtual conference from April 28 to 30, 2021. Researchers and educators find valuable methodologies and tools for robotics in education that encourage learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) through the design, creation, and programming of tangible artifacts for creating personally meaningful objects and addressing real-world societal needs. This also involves the introduction of technologies ranging from robotics platforms to programming environments and languages. Evaluation results prove the impact of robotics on the students’ interests and competence development. The presented approaches cover the whole educative range from kindergarten, primary and secondary school, to the university level and beyond. Preface Organization Committee Co-chairpersons International Program Committee Local Conference Organization Contents Workshops, Curricula and Related Aspects Primary Schools and Kindergartens Gradation of Cognitive Operations of Blue-Bot Control in the Primary Education 1 Introduction 2 Ways to Control the Robot 2.1 Blue-Bot Controls 3 Methodology 4 Research Results 5 Discussion 6 Conclusion References Bee-Bot Educational Robot as a Means of Developing Social Skills Among Children with Autism-Spectrum Disorders 1 Introduction 2 Methods 2.1 Participants 2.2 Materials 2.3 Design and Procedure 3 Results 3.1 Individual Observations 3.2 Answers to the Research Questions 4 Conclusions and Discussion 5 Ethical Considerations References Development of Educational Scenarios for Child-Robot Interaction: The Case of Learning Disabilities 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 2.1 Use of Robots in Education 2.2 Reading Intervention for Children with LD 3 Methods 3.1 Experimental Design 3.2 The Social Robot and Its Role 3.3 Educational Scenarios 4 Conclusions and Future Work References Educational Robotics in Online Distance Learning: An Experience from Primary School 1 Introduction 2 An Example of an ER Online Activity for Primary School 3 Results and Discussion 4 Conclusion References Workshops, Curricula and Related Aspects Secondary Schools Robotics Laboratory Within the Italian School-Work Transition Program in High Schools: A Case Study 1 Introduction 2 Preliminary Activities 3 The Robotics Classes 3.1 The ``rescue Mission'' in a Nutshell 3.2 Lesson Overview 3.3 Proposed Tools 3.4 Solutions and Strategies 4 Discussions References How to Promote Learning and Creativity Through Visual Cards and Robotics at Summer Academic Project Ítaca 1 Introduction 2 The Robotics Workshop: ``Robots for Everyone'' 2.1 Workshop Goals 2.2 Workshop Description 3 Theoretical Framework and Methodology 3.1 Pedagogical Issues 3.2 STEAMOLUS: A ``Maker'' Approach to Work on STEAM Through Creativity 3.3 Open Roberta Lab 4 Results 5 Conclusions References An Arduino-Based Robot with a Sensor as an Educational Project 1 Introduction 2 Teaching Materials 3 Separate Project of Robotic Vehicle 3.1 Sub-project - Fan with Speed Control 3.2 Subproject - Distance Measurement 3.3 The Main Project 4 Verification 5 Responses and Test Results 6 Conclusion References A Social Robot Activity for Novice Programmers 1 Introduction 2 Methods 3 Discussion 4 Conlusion and Future Work References Workshops, Curricula and Related Aspects Universities Robotics and Intelligent Systems: A New Curriculum Development and Adaptations Needed in Coronavirus Times 1 Introduction 2 Challenges and Calls for Action 3 The New Robotics and Intelligent Systems Program 4 Adaptations Needed During the Pandemic 5 Conclusions and Future Work References An Educational Framework for Complex Robotics Projects 1 Introduction 2 Concept 2.1 University Courses 2.2 Simulation 2.3 MiniBot 2.4 Myon 3 Integration of Research and Education 3.1 Results 4 Conclusion References Education Tool for Kinematic Analysis: A Case Study 1 Introduction 2 Kinematics of the Rigid Body: Some Hints and References 2.1 Configuration Analysis 2.2 Velocity and Acceleration Analysis 2.3 Kinematic Simulation 3 Sample Mechanism and Educational Tool for Kinematic Analysis 4 Preliminary Considerations on Course Outcomes and Teaching Methods 5 Case Study: A Student’s Work 6 Conclusions and Perspectives References Evaluating Educational Robotics Girls and Technology – Insights from a Girls-Only Team at a Reengineered Educational Robotics Summer Camp 1 Introduction 2 Method 2.1 Advertisement, Registration and Initial Survey 2.2 Projects, Contexts, Materials and Procedure 2.3 Data 3 Results 3.1 Demographics 3.2 Number of Participants 3.3 Pre- and Post-test Scores 3.4 Evaluation 3.5 Semi-structured Interviews 3.6 Observations and Conversations 4 Discussion 4.1 Limitations and Future Work 5 Conclusion References Improved Students' Performance in an Online Robotics Class During COVID-19: Do only Strong Students Profit? 1 Introduction 2 The Structure and the Content of the Robotics Course 3 Improved Grade Performance 4 Online Performance and GPA 5 Conclusion References Pupils’ Perspectives Regarding Robot Design and Language Learning Scenario 1 Introduction 2 Methodology 3 Results and Discussion 4 Conclusion and Future Work References Teachers in Focus Enhancing Teacher-Students’ Digital Competence with Educational Robots 1 Introduction 2 Educational Robots and Digital Competence 3 Methodology 4 Results 4.1 Which Teacher-Students’ Digital Competence Differ Before and After a Training Course with STEAM K12 Open Educational Resources? 4.2 What Type of Educational Robots and STEAM Kits do Teacher-Students Consider as Most Appropriate for Designing Their Digital Competence? 5 Discussion and Conclusions References Disciplinary Knowledge of Mathematics and Science Teachers on the Designing and Understanding of Robot Programming Algorithms 1 Theoretical Background 2 Methodology 2.1 Programming Training Based on Robotics 2.2 Data and Analysis 3 Results 3.1 Understanding and Design of Algorithms 3.2 Influence of Disciplinary Knowledge in the Construction of Algorithms 4 Discussion and Conclusion References Teachers' Perspective on Fostering Computational Thinking Through Educational Robotics 1 Introduction 2 Methodology 3 Results and Discussion 3.1 RQ1 - Utility 3.2 RQ2 - Usability 3.3 RQ3 - Acceptability 4 Conclusion References Technologies for Educational Robotics Mirobot: A Low-Cost 6-DOF Educational Desktop Robot 1 Introduction 2 Mechanical Structure 2.1 Joints Composed of Stepper Motors 2.2 Structural Parts Manufactured by 3D Printing 3 Hardware Design of the Control System 4 Inverse Kinematics Algorithm 5 Look-Ahead Control Algorithm 6 PC Control Software and Remote Control 7 Practical Application Testing 8 Conclusion References Developing an Introduction to ROS and Gazebo Through the LEGO SPIKE Prime 1 Introduction 2 Connecting Platforms 2.1 Process Flow Overview 2.2 Onshape and LEGO SPIKE Prime Part Library 2.3 Part Library Creation and Usability 2.4 Exporting Robots from Onshape to URDF/SDF Format 2.5 ROS 2 and Gazebo 2.6 Virtual Machine Package 3 Testing the Virtual LEGO Build Process with the ROS 2 and Gazebo Integration 4 Discussion 5 Conclusion References Constructing Robots for Undergraduate Projects Using Commodity Aluminum Build Systems 1 Introduction 2 Related Work 3 Commodity Construction Systems 3.1 Actobotics 3.2 GoBilda 3.3 Comparison 4 Compute Hardware and Sensors 4.1 Embedded Computers 4.2 Sensors and Software 5 Experience 5.1 Build System Experience 5.2 Student Experience 6 Conclusion References Hands-On Exploration of Sensorimotor Loops 1 Introduction 2 Sensomotorics Curriculum 3 Practical Exploration of Sensorimotor Behavior 3.1 The Dynamixel Actuator for Simple Robots 3.2 An Example Robot 4 Conclusion References Programming Environments CORP. A Collaborative Online Robotics Platform 1 Introduction 2 The CORP Platform 3 Hardware Architecture 4 Software Architecture 4.1 Google Slides 4.2 CORP Add-On's Architecture 4.3 Google Meet Video Communication 4.4 LEGO EV3 Robot Software 5 CORP User Interface 6 Conclusions and Future Work References A ROS-based Open Web Platform for Intelligent Robotics Education 1 Introduction 2 Robotics Engineering Education 3 Robotics Academy: From Open Tool to Open Web Platform 3.1 Robotics Academy Docker Image 3.2 New Web-Based Exercise Templates 3.3 Webserver 4 Intelligent Robotics Course 4.1 Visual Follow Line Exercise 4.2 Obstacle Avoidance Exercise 4.3 Vacuum Cleaner Exercise 4.4 Vacuum Cleaner with Localization Exercise 5 Conclusions References HoRoSim, a Holistic Robot Simulator: Arduino Code, Electronic Circuits and Physics 1 Introduction 2 Related Work 3 HoRoSim 4 Use Cases 4.1 Line Following Robot 4.2 PID Testbed 5 Discussion 5.1 Students Reception 5.2 Limitations 6 Conclusions References Exploring a Handwriting Programming Language for Educational Robots 1 Introduction 2 Development of HPL 3 An ER-HPL Learning Activity 4 Conclusion References Artificial Intelligence AI-Powered Educational Robotics as a Learning Tool to Promote Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science Education 1 Introduction 2 Why AI-Powered Educational Robotics for AI, Computer Science, and Computational Thinking Learning? 3 AI-Powered Educational Robotics Tools 3.1 Cozmo 3.2 Zumi 3.3 CogBots 4 How to Promote AI-Powered Educational Robotics as a Learning Tool - Next Step References An Interactive Robot Platform for Introducing Reinforcement Learning to K-12 Students 1 Introduction 2 Background and Related Work 3 Reinforcement Learning Background 4 Technical Approach 4.1 System Overview 4.2 Graphical User Interface for Treasure Hunting Activities 4.3 Lesson Structure 5 Pilot Study 5.1 Background 5.2 Robot-Centered Sessions 5.3 Web-Based Session 5.4 Limitations 5.5 Results 6 Conclusion and Future Work References The BRAIINS AI for Kids Platform 1 Introduction 2 Tools for Artificial Intelligence (Machine Learning) 2.1 ML4Kids 2.2 KNIME 2.3 ML Kit for Firebase 2.4 Robotic Platforms to Integrate ML 3 Activities – AI for Kids Platform and Further Work 4 Conclusion References The BRAIINS Humanoid Robotics Lab 1 Introduction 2 The NAO Robotic Platform 3 The Humanoid Robots Remote Lab 3.1 COVID19-Impact, Challenges and Opportunities 3.2 Technical Setup 4 Pedagogical Point of View – The Lab Protocol 5 Conclusion 6 Further Work References Author Index