Design and Implementation of an Open-Source Educational Robot for Hands-On Learning Experiences in IoT

Abstract

The use of educational robots has increased rapidly over the past few years due to the growing interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. In this paper, we introduce an open-source and open-design educational robot for practicing Internet of Things (IoT) using hands-on experiences. The robot is equipped with various sensors and actuators, and is controlled by an Arduino microcontroller. We describe the design and implementation of the robot, including the hardware and software components. The hardware design consists of a wood cut by laser cutting machine, which houses the Arduino microcontroller, sensors, and actuators, as well as the wheels and motor drivers for movement. The software is based on an Arduino IDE and Blockly, where each sensor and actuator can be programmed on C programming language, and can be easily added or removed. The capabilities of the robot are demonstrated through several experiments, such as obstacle avoidance, line following, and temperature monitoring. The robot can serve as an effective tool for teaching students the fundamentals of IoT, robotics, and programming, as well as encouraging creativity and innovation in STEM education. The potential applications of the robot in various computer science courses are also discussed as further work.