AERobot: An affordable one-robot-per-student system for early robotics education

Abstract

There is a widely recognized need for improved STEM education and increased technological literacy. Robots represent a promising educational tool with potentially large impact, due to their broad appeal and wide relevance; however, many existing educational robot platforms have cost as a barrier to widespread use. Here we present AERobot, a simple low-cost robot that can be easily used for introductory programming and robotics teaching, starting from a primary or middle school level. The hardware is open-source and can be built for ~$10 per robot, making it possible for each student to have (and keep) their own robot, while still encompassing a rich sensor suite enabling a variety of activities. A free, open-source graphical programming environment allows students without previous programming experience to command the robot. We report on the results of three sessions of a one-week pilot course held in the summer of 2014 by STEM summer camp i2 Camp.