Utilizing Robotics To Facilitate Project Based Learning: A Student Perspective

Abstract

This paper describes a freshman engineering curriculum that utilizes a robotics kit to facilitate hands-on learning.Student participants are required to purchase the robotics kit in lieu of textbooks.In the first of three courses, students implement simple circuits and write BASIC programs to accomplish tasks such as robot navigation and detecting light levels with photoresistors.In the second course, students use their newly acquired skills to implement a system that controls the temperature and salinity of a small volume of water.Through this project, students learn to implement more advanced circuits, including 555 timer circuits, transistor-relay circuits, and resistance temperature detector (RTD) circuits.In third course, students complete an open-ended design project where they conceive, fabricate, and test a working prototype of a "smart product."The paper describes each of these three freshman courses and provides assessment results and student perspectives on the new project-centered curriculum.