State of the art of Education Robots

Paolo Fiorini
Department of Computer Science
University of Verona, Italy

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 1/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Robotics Education
• Robotics is an ideal area to teach diverse disciplines in an integrated
manner: a Robotics Laboratory should be a resource for teaching at all
levels
• Teaching can be easily personalized to the student level
• High school: introduction by means of learning games
• College: students can learn Control and Robotics
• Graduate students can carry out their thesis
However, so far there is no provision for:
•Standard/reusable curricula
•Teaching advanced skills without doing research
•Updating professionals on new technologies

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 2/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Summary
• Hardware for Robotics Education:
• high school, undergraduate and graduale levels
• Some of the currently availaible curricula
• Professional Education in Advanced Robotics:
the EDUFILL project
• Conclusions and future work

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 3/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
Current Work on Robotics Education
• Internet-based Robots
• Control System Laboratories
• Lego and other educational robots
• Various types of simulators (MatLab tool box, etc…)
• Various types of curricula
• Mobile robots
• and many others

It could be useful to start a classification of the

different resources to provide guidance to teachers.

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 4/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Robotics Educational Areas
We can imagine three levels of robotics education:
•Basic
•Engineering
•Advanced
However, the levels depend on the target:

Designer (to research): User (to application):

•Basic (Bachelor level) •Basic + Engineering
•Engineering (Master Level) (maintenance, service, etc.)
•Advanced (PhD level) •Basic + Advanced (system
design and integration)

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 5/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Robotics Educational Areas
We can imagine three levels of robotics education:
•Basic
•Engineering
•Advanced
However, the levels depend on the target:

Designer (to research): User (to application):

•Basic (Bachelor level) •Basic + Engineering
•Engineering (Master Level) (maintenance, service, etc.)
•Advanced (PhD level) •Basic + Advanced (system
design and integration)

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 6/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Robotics Educational Tools

Commercial kits Home made kits

Elettronic  Complete Eddy

Assembly  kits Software Kits Full kits 
Components robots

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 7/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Software Kits

• Microsoft Robot Studio

• Player/Stage- Gazebo (ROS)
• Webots
• UsarSim

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 8/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Robot Arms

• RA-01 Robotic Arm

• Robot Arm Trainer
• Lynx
• Bilibot Project

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 9/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Mobile Robots
• Pioneer Robot 3DX
• Khepera III
• Hemisson
• iCreate
• TurtleBot (WillowGarage)
• MiaBot
• WowWee Rovio
• Qbo Corpora
• E-puck

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 10/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Aerial Robots
• Skybotix's Coax Helicopter
• Parrot AR. Drone
• Asctec Quadrotor Pelican

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 11/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Humanoid Robots
• SkAlex Animated Head
• Aldebaran Robotics Nao
• ……

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 12/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Assembly Kit Robots
• Boe-Bot
• Stingray Robot
• LEGO Mindstorm
• VEX
• FischerTechnik
• Qfix

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 13/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
Websites Robotic Courses

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 14/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
These kits are suitable for students education, but
for professional education, or for advanced topics
there is no available curriculum

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 15/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Advanced Topics: Teleoperation
With Teleoperation we identify the capability of controlling a
remote system by means of a communication channel. The remote
system could be fixed, as in the case of a robot manipulator, or
mobile, as, for example, an exploration robot.

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 16/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Educational needs for Teleoperation

• Control System experiments:

• System identification
• Motor control
• Optimization
• Human-Machine Interface • Computer Science
• Graphics • Software architectures
• Haptics • Programming languages
• Virtual/Augmented reality • Communication protocols

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 17/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Advanced Topic: Service
Robotics
Service Robotics is the area of
robotics that studies the use of
robots to carry out activities in
everyday life, such as cleaning,
construction, goods and people
transportation, assistance, and
maintenance.

MORPHA concept
ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona
ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 18/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Advanced Topics: Logistics Robot
• Move parcels in a warehouse
• Human supervision
•Autonomous load and
motion
• Integration of custom
and commercial parts

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 19/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Education needs in Service Robotics
• Motion planning:
• Path planning algorithms
• Navigation in dynamic environments
• Obstacle identification an tracking
• Manipulation and Grasping:
• Graphics
• Simulation
• Virtual/Augmented reality

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 20/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 The EDUFILL EU Project
The project goal is to foster the use of advanced (mobile) manipulation
techniques in small and mid-size enterprises, in production and home service
settings.

In the last couple of years, research has made significant advances in mobile
manipulation, however little has been applied to industrial and service
applications so far.

This gap between research results and application is due to a lack of ready-
to-use software components to build advanced robotic applications and to a lack
of engineers educated to master advanced (mobile) manipulation.

The project will bridge the gap, by providing industry with a software toolbox
of modular components implementing basic robotic functionalities for mobile
manipulation and an education framework with course modules covering the
theory and application of mobile manipulation.
ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona
ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 21/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 The EDUFILL EU Project
As a by-product of this effort, simple sensing capabilities,
comprehensive of hardware interfaces and software drivers, will be
adapted to the mobile manipulator chosen for this project.

The toolbox and course material will be developed along three

showcases:
•(a) handing over an object between two (moving) mobile manipulators,
•(b) a cooperative assembly example and
• (c) a fetch and carry task.

The results will be the software toolbox (open sourced), the teaching
material, including a worked-out curriculum for mobile
manipulation, and two of the three showcases as demonstrators (i.e.
software + tutorial how to setup hardware and run the showcase in class).

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 22/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 The EDUFILL EU Results

• New curricula for

service robotics
applicable to most kits
• New “canned” software
for YouBot for typical
service applications
• New sensing
capabilities for YouBot

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 23/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it
 Conclusions and Future Work
 Robotic Education must:
 become standard part of engineering curricula
 address the needs of continuing education
 We propose to continue the development of standard curricula
for high school and universities, but also
 Develop new curricula for “professional” and engineers,
addressing advanced (but NOT research) topics.
 The EDUFILL project will achieve these goals 

ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 24/19
http://metropolis.sci.univr.it