ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it1/19

State of the art of Education Robots

Paolo FioriniDepartment of Computer Science

University of Verona, Italy

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it2/19

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

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it3/19

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

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it4/19

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.

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it5/19

Robotics Educational Areas

We can imagine three levels of robotics education:•Basic•Engineering•Advanced

However, the levels depend on the target:

Designer (to research):•Basic (Bachelor level)•Engineering (Master Level)•Advanced (PhD level)

User (to application):•Basic + Engineering(maintenance, service, etc.)•Basic + Advanced (systemdesign and integration)

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it6/19

Robotics Educational Areas

We can imagine three levels of robotics education:•Basic•Engineering•Advanced

However, the levels depend on the target:

Designer (to research):•Basic (Bachelor level)•Engineering (Master Level)•Advanced (PhD level)

User (to application):•Basic + Engineering(maintenance, service, etc.)•Basic + Advanced (systemdesign and integration)

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it7/19

Robotics Educational Tools

Commercial kits

Elettronic ComponentsAssembly  kits Software Kits Complete

robots Full kits 

Home made kits

Eddy

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it8/19

Software Kits

• Microsoft Robot Studio• Player/Stage- Gazebo (ROS)• Webots• UsarSim

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it9/19

Robot Arms

• RA-01 Robotic Arm• Robot Arm Trainer • Lynx• Bilibot Project

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it10/19

Mobile Robots• Pioneer Robot 3DX • Khepera III • Hemisson• iCreate• TurtleBot (WillowGarage)• MiaBot• WowWee Rovio• Qbo Corpora• E-puck

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it11/19

Aerial Robots • Skybotix's Coax Helicopter• Parrot AR. Drone • Asctec Quadrotor Pelican

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it12/19

Humanoid Robots • SkAlex Animated Head • Aldebaran Robotics Nao• ……

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it13/19

Assembly Kit Robots • Boe-Bot • Stingray Robot • LEGO Mindstorm• VEX• FischerTechnik• Qfix

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it14/19

Websites Robotic Courses

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it15/19

These kits are suitable for students education, butfor professional education, or for advanced topicsthere is no available curriculum

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it16/19

Advanced Topics: TeleoperationWith 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.

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it17/19

Educational needs for Teleoperation

• Control System experiments:• System identification• Motor control• Optimization

• Human-Machine Interface• Graphics• Haptics• Virtual/Augmented reality

• Computer Science• Software architectures• Programming languages• Communication protocols

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it18/19

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 peopletransportation, assistance, and maintenance.

MORPHA concept

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it19/19

Advanced Topics: Logistics Robot• Move parcels in a warehouse

• Human supervision •Autonomous load and motion

• Integration of custom and commercial parts

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it20/19

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

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it21/19

The EDUFILL EU ProjectThe 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.

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it22/19

The EDUFILL EU ProjectAs 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).

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

http://metropolis.sci.univr.it23/19

The EDUFILL EU Results

• New curricula for service roboticsapplicable to most kits

• New “canned” software for YouBot for typicalservice applications

• New sensingcapabilities for YouBot

ICRA 2011, Shanghai, May13 2011 ALTAIR -- Department of Computer Science -– University of Verona

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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