Development of an Educational Robot for Exploring the Internet of Things

Abstract

Educational robots, when integrated into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education across a range of age groups, serve to enhance learning experiences by facilitating hands-on activities. These robots are particularly instrumental in the realm of Internet of Things (IoT) education, guiding learners from basic to advanced applications. This paper introduces the IoTXplorBot, an open-source and open-design educational robot, developed to foster the learning of IoT concepts in a cost-effective manner. The robot is equipped with a variety of low-cost sensors and actuators and features an interchangeable microcontroller that is compatible with other development boards from the Arduino Nano family. This compatibility allows for diverse programming languages and varied purposes. The robot’s printed circuit board is designed to be user-friendly, even for those with no engineering skills. The proposed board includes additional pins and a breadboard on the robot’s chassis, enabling the extension of the robot with other hardware components. The use of the Arduino board allows learners to leverage all capabilities from Arduino, such as the Arduino IoT cloud, dashboard, online compiler, and project hub. These resources aid in the development of new projects and in finding solutions to encountered problems. The paper concludes with a discussion on the future development of this robot, underscoring its potential for ongoing adaptation and improvement.