Using robots in an undergraduate artificial intelligence course: an experience report

Abstract

In this paper, we report our experience using robots in the artificial intelligence course we taught in Fall 2000. Our objective was to use robots to reinforce the traditional concepts of search and expert systems. We wanted the robots to be simple to build, yet powerful enough to illustrate AI concepts. In this paper, we discuss our choice of robot, describe the projects we assigned and list the problems our students encountered carrying out those projects. We surveyed our class regarding the use of robots in this course at the end of the semester. We discuss the results of this survey, which we believe, make a strong case for using robots in the AI course.