Introduction to Microbots: A Hands-On, Contest-Driven, Interdisciplinary Course on Mobile Robot Design in a Developing Country

Abstract

Engineering outreach in a developing country like Chile is a difficult challenge. Different reasons explain a sustained decrease in the number of students enrolling in engineering education in the past years, and a special effort is necessary to reverse this trend. Focusing on teamwork, the non-conventional undergraduate-level course described in this paper represents an opportunity for motivated students in a developing country to focus their abilities in engineering design. In order to make the course more attractive for students, the final project consisted of designing an autonomous robot to compete in a contest. This article reviews experiences associated with this course and the students' design teams over a five-year period. The course methodology is explained, and the results are summarised.