Selecting a Robotic Platform for Education

Abstract

Undoubtedly, the popularity of educational robotic platforms has disrupted the way students are educated while forming an important and promising new market for robotics and consumer electronics companies. Selecting a robotic platform for education is an important task, as it can affect the learning process and the respective learning outcome. To effectively select a robotic kit for a specific activity, several factors should be taken into account. However, choosing a robot for one particular application has become more complicated in recent years because of the increased complexity and the available features and facilities constantly introduced into the robots. Despite the fact that several robot selection methodologies have been established for industrial uses, there has been little study on robot selection for learning purposes. The main objective of this work is to determine the most important parameters for selecting a robotic platform, as they were identified through an extensive literature survey. The work aims to assist consumers in choosing the appropriate educational robots, while supporting manufacturers in designing platforms suitable for education purposes.