Lego Robots Research Articles

Learning classical and metaheuristic optimization techniques by using an educational platform based on LEGO robots

Optimization is a very important issue to efficiently solve engineering problems. The clear comprehension of the elements and processes of optimizer algorithms is fundamental to ensure that engineer students are capable to apply, tune, and design new algorithms. This paper presents an educational platform based on LEGO© EV3 and MATLAB to assist the learning of the principles of classical and metaheuristic optimization algorithms at undergraduate level, by providing a simple and easy-to-follow teaching setup. The proposed study aims to accompany students through the learning of optimization fundamentals by building hands-on robotic experiments. The proposed educational platform has been successfully applied to several undergraduate courses within the Electronics Department at the University of Guadalajara. The description of each experiment and the evaluation of their impact in the student performance are both provided in the paper.

ROBOTICS AND MATH: USING ACTION RESEARCH TO STUDY GROWTH PROBLEMS

An action research case study was conducted to investigate the effects of incorporating LEGO robotics into a seventh-grade mathematics curriculum focused on the development of proportional reasoning through the lens of Social Constructivist Theory. This research, which was part of a larger study, reports the findings when LEGO EV3 robots were incorporated to help students gain an understanding of proportional reasoning in the domain of growth problems. The qualitative data analysis provides insight into how students develop proportional reasoning skills as they use LEGO robotics to navigate among a series of technological stages during collaborative work inclusive of prescribed tasks, discourse and problem-solving. Overall, the inclusion of robotics was productive for learning; however, future studies should be completed to improve the reliability of the findings and continue to improve the curriculum.

Understanding students behavior during the adoption of modular robotics in learning

Pre-teacher students undergo a set of stages in their training including a preparation course that familiarises them with classroom situation. The provided skills taught in training are intended to devise pre-teacher students for future assignment at schools. This research sheds lights on how students learning behaviour can be charted during the introduction of modular robotics in learning. The Kolb’s Theory has been adapted to chart student’s responses while learning the Introduction of Modular Robotics. A qualitative inquiry was carried out by a group of pre-service-teacher students who experienced their first-time observation with Lego Mindstorm in their research. They were assigned to design learning module using LEGO robotics. After completing their assignment, the students were, then, interviewed for their own experience and their fellow students’ account of the event. The exploration over the interviews is interpolated with Kolb’s learning style theory to obtain the understanding of the phenomena. The student’s behaviour during implementing LEGO robotics in STEM courses was explained using Kolb’s theory. Finally, we found that Kolb’s theory on way of learning explains student teachers attitude toward the use of LEGO robotics in STEM Courses. The increased understanding of the use of robotics in STEM learning is evaluated for application in the real classroom environment.

A systematic review on teaching and learning robotics content knowledge in K-12

This paper aims to review high-qualified empirical studies on teaching and learning robotics content knowledge in K-12 and explore future research perspectives of robotics education (RE) based on the reviewed papers. After a systematic search in online database via keyword search and snowballing approach, 22 SSCI journal papers are included in this review. Nine major factors are examined for each paper: sample groups, duration, robot types, robotics content knowledge, study type, intervention approaches, measurement instruments, major findings and instructional suggestions. The results indicate that: (1) most empirical studies were endured less than two months with a small sample size, the largest sample group was elementary school students, and most studies used LEGO robots; (2) more than half of the studies conducted a non-experimental research design, and observation, questionnaire, interview and evaluation of artifacts are commonly-used measurement instruments; and (3) instructional suggestions proposed in the 22 papers can be clustered into four themes: open environment, targeted design, appropriate pedagogy and timely support. Overall, the 22 papers suggest that RE shows great educational potential in K-12, however, there are indeed situations in which RE did not bring significant improvement in student learning. In view of this, we prospect the future research directions of RE and propose that more intervention studies with rigorous research design could be conducted in K-12.

“La Migra” in the Classroom: Transfronterizx Students Exploring Mobility in Transnational Higher Education on the US-Mexico Border

Based on an ethnographic study of a pre-engineering freshman course at a large university on the US-Mexico border, I explore how 4 Latinx undergraduate students, 2 of whom crossed the border on a daily basis to pursue higher education (HE), built a Lego robot that they named La Migra (a colloquial term for US Border Patrol). In particular, I demonstrate that the students drew from local authorized border crossing activities to design the robot to accelerate cross border mobility. In using the new mobilities paradigm (Sheller & Urry, 2006; Urry, 2007) and borderwork (Rumford, 2008), I also show that the design of the La Migra robot, rather than a public good, was actually symbolic of the uneven distribution of mobility. In total, findings contribute a particularistic account of the understudied significance of physical border crossing to mobility in the context of transnational HE.

Students’ Perceptions and Acceptance of lego Robots in Syria

An important recent trend in education has been the integration of different technologies such as digital games, online courses, and educational robots. The development of educational robots such as lego Mindstorms nxt allows students to learn to build their own robots. This paper describes the human-robot interaction (hri) focusing especially on the model lego Mindstorms nxt. A questionnaire among 250 Syrian school and university students was conducted to investigate the different perceptions about lego robots in 2016. The informants were grouped based on their age; participants in the first group were aged between 11 and 18 years while participants in the second between 19 and 24. The current study also focuses on the factors leading to the acceptance of lego robots. Another questionnaire was conducted to highlight what factors determine the degree of acceptance of lego robots by the studied groups. Significant age and gender effects were found. The results show a noticeable difference between the two age groups, with the younger group tending to accept lego robots more. Furthermore, it was found that male respondents show more positive reactions towards lego robots than females.

LEGO Robotik Öğretim Uygulamalarının Kabulü Ölçeğinin Geliştirilmesi: Geçerlik ve Güvenirlik Çalışmaları

In the scope of the study it was aimed to develop the acceptance scale of LEGO robotics instructional practices to determine the prospective teachers’ acception of LEGO robotics instructional practices. Scale development study was carried out with the help of 360 prospective teachers having been educated at Bartin University during the 2016-2017 academic semester. Before testing form of the scale was applied to the prospective teachers, they had been introduced on LEGO Mindstorms EV3 set and how to integrate these sets into learning and teaching process. Item analysis studies were done with the correlational analysis method and the factor structure of the scale was determined with the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis methods. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis studies indicated the scale had one factor and four components. The components of the scale was called as perceived benefit, perceived easy use, intention to use and attitude. Cronbach Alpha reliability parameter of the whole scale was found as .956 and Cronbach Alpha reliability parameters of the components of the scale were found respectively as .924; .929; .834, .915. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis studies as well as Cronbach Alpha parameters indicated the acceptance scale of LEGO robotics instructional practices has been a reliable and valid data collection tool.

Design and Implementation of a Real-Time Autonomous Navigation System Applied to Lego Robots

Teaching theoretical concepts of a real-time autonomous robot system may be a challenging task without real hardware support. The paper discusses the application of the Lego Robot for teaching multi interdisciplinary subjects to Mechatronics students. A real-time mobile robot system with perception using sensors, path planning algorithm, PID controller is used as the case to demonstrate the teaching methodology. The novelties are introduced compared to classical robotic classes: (i) the adoption of a project-based learning approach as teaching methodology; (ii) an effective real-time autonomous navigation approach for the mobile robot. However, the extendibility and applicability of the presented approach are not limited to only the educational purpose.

The Effects of Integrating LEGO Robotics Into a Mathematics Curriculum to Promote the Development of Proportional Reasoning

The Effects of Integrating LEGO Robotics Into a Mathematics Curriculum to Promote the Development of Proportional Reasoning

Integrating LEGO Robotics Into a 5th Grade Cross Curricular Unit to Promote the Development of Narrative Writing Skills

Integrating LEGO Robotics Into a 5th Grade Cross Curricular Unit to Promote the Development of Narrative Writing Skills

Performance Heuristics for GR(1) Synthesis and Related Algorithms

Reactive synthesis for the GR(1) fragment of LTL has been implemented and studied in many works. In this workshop paper we present and evaluate a list of heuristics to potentially reduce running times for GR(1) synthesis and related algorithms. The list includes early detection of fixed-points and unrealizability, fixed-point recycling, and heuristics for unrealizable core computations. We evaluate the presented heuristics on SYNTECH15, a total of 78 specifications of 6 autonomous Lego robots, written by 3rd year undergraduate computer science students in a project class we have taught, as well as on several benchmarks from the literature. The evaluation investigates not only the potential of the suggested heuristics to improve computation times, but also the difference between existing benchmarks and the robot's specifications in terms of the effectiveness of the heuristics.

Does the Inclusion of Robots Affect Engineering Students’ Achievement in Computer Programming Courses?

Applied courses are difficult to teach to undergraduate engineering students in classical classrooms. To facilitate students’ understanding and capture their motivation, technology should be incorporated into classrooms. In the Engineering Faculty, there are courses that are difficult to learn in a classical classroom and laboratory sessions; the programming algorithm course is one such class. Educational robots are required for teaching and learning programming algorithm logic. The Lego Mindstorms EV3 robots represent excellent technology to teach programming algorithm course subjects. The important point about the programming algorithms course is that it enables understanding of the logic of programming, as it enhances students’ understanding of what it means when they are coding. This paper investigates how engineering faculty students’ achievements are affected by robotics technology when learning computer programming algorithm logics. It analyses a usable solution with the Lego Mindstorms EV3 robot in the engineering classrooms for the introduction to computer programming course. The statistical results showed, Lego robot usage has raised student achievement in the introduction to computer programming course.

Liquid-handling Lego robots and experiments for STEM education and research.

Liquid-handling robots have many applications for biotechnology and the life sciences, with increasing impact on everyday life. While playful robotics such as Lego Mindstorms significantly support education initiatives in mechatronics and programming, equivalent connections to the life sciences do not currently exist. To close this gap, we developed Lego-based pipetting robots that reliably handle liquid volumes from 1 ml down to the sub-μl range and that operate on standard laboratory plasticware, such as cuvettes and multiwell plates. These robots can support a range of science and chemistry experiments for education and even research. Using standard, low-cost household consumables, programming pipetting routines, and modifying robot designs, we enabled a rich activity space. We successfully tested these activities in afterschool settings with elementary, middle, and high school students. The simplest robot can be directly built from the widely used Lego Education EV3 core set alone, and this publication includes building and experiment instructions to set the stage for dissemination and further development in education and research.

Prototype of an Interactive Toy from Lego Robotics Kits for Children with Autism

Prototype of an Interactive Toy from Lego Robotics Kits for Children with Autism

A Robot-Based Tool for Physical and Cognitive Rehabilitation of Elderly People Using Biofeedback.

This publication presents a complete description of a technological solution system for the physical and cognitive rehabilitation of elderly people through a biofeedback system, which is combined with a Lego robot. The technology used was the iOS’s (iPhone Operating System) Objective-C programming language and its XCode programming environment; and SQLite in order to create the database. The biofeedback system is implemented by the use of two biosensors which are, in fact, a Microsoft band 2 in order to register the user’s heart rate and a MYO sensor to detect the user’s arm movement. Finally, the system was tested with seven elderly people from La Santa y Real Casa de la Misericordia nursing home in Bilbao. The statistical assessment has shown that the users are satisfied with the usability of the system, with a mean score of 79.29 on the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire.

Exploring Student Understanding of Force and Motion Using a Simulation-Based Performance Assessment

Performance assessment (PA) has been increasingly advocated as a method for measuring students’ conceptual understanding of scientific phenomena. In this study, we describe preliminary findings of a simulation- based PA utilized to measure 8th grade students’ understanding of physical science concepts taught via an experimental problem-based curriculum, SLIDER (Science Learning Integrating Design Engineering and Robotics). In SLIDER, students use LEGO robotics to complete a series of investigations and engineering design challenges designed to deepen their understanding of key force and motion concepts (net force, acceleration, friction, balanced forces, and inertia). The simulation-based performance assessment consisted of 4 tasks in which students engaged with video simulations illustrating physical science concepts aligned to the SLIDER curriculum. The performance assessment was administered to a stratified sample of 8th grade students (N=24) in one school prior to and following implementation of the SLIDER curriculum. In addition to providing an illustration of the use of simulation- based performance assessment in the context of design-based implementation research (DBIR), the results of the study indicate preliminary evidence of student learning over the course of curriculum implementation.

Lego Robots & Autism Spectrum Disorder: a potential partnership?

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present difficulties in developing social behaviours, in communicating gestural or verbally, and they may present some repetitive motor activities. The objective of this study was to improve social competences and to enable the transfer of acquired skills of five children with ASD and intellectual disabilities using a low-cost Lego robot as a mediator. The proposed methodology was divided in five phases: Familiarization, Pre-test, Practice, Post-Test and Transfer of Skills. The study ran in two sequential periods at different places. Each of these periods tackled different individual research questions and goals (taking into account the target group). During each period, the proposed methodology had to be adjusted according to the current context. Therefore, different experimental scenarios and corresponding specific goals had to be delineated. Results show that joint attention of the children increased over the sessions; and interaction with the researcher was verified. Furthermore, results show that there was an effective transfer of skills in the addressed case studies. This reinforces conclusions that robots seem, in fact, powerful tools that should be explored concerning this target population. But a more detailed study is required. The proposed methodology can be used by professionals and parents as a complement to common interventions.

Segway Line Tracer Using Proportional-Integral-Derivative Controllers

Intelligent control, sensors and hardware integration are expected to generate an efficient transportation system and and minimum effort, to carry goods from one location to another location. Line tracer used by robot to transport follow the path, it has a system that uses a light sensor to read the color from a line that represent the path to make specific direction. Segway is two wheeled transportation item that have an efficient energy used. Nowadays line tracer can only work if it has three or more wheels and segway can only work with riders. This research segway designed by lego robot, PID (Proportional, Integral, Derivative) control used to control an input from gyroscope sensor in form of elevation angle of the earth. The control system are expected to control two wheeled Segway to reach steady state rapidly. So the Segway would run without involving human or without rider.

Toward Robotic Robbery on the Touch Screen

Despite the tremendous amount of research fronting the use of touch gestures as a mechanism of continuous authentication on smart phones, very little research has been conducted to evaluate how these systems could behave if attacked by sophisticated adversaries. In this article, we present two Lego-driven robotic attacks on touch-based authentication: a population statistics--driven attack and a user-tailored attack. The population statistics--driven attack is based on patterns gleaned from a large population of users, whereas the user-tailored attack is launched based on samples stolen from the victim. Both attacks are launched by a Lego robot that is trained on how to swipe on the touch screen. Using seven verification algorithms and a large dataset of users, we show that the attacks cause the system’s mean false acceptance rate (FAR) to increase by up to fivefold relative to the mean FAR seen under the standard zero-effort impostor attack. The article demonstrates the threat that robots pose to touch-based authentication and provides compelling evidence as to why the zero-effort attack should cease to be used as the benchmark for touch-based authentication systems.

Performing mathematics activities with non-standard units of measurement using robots controlled via speech-generating devices: three case studies

Purpose To examine how using a Lego robot controlled via a speech-generating device (SGD) can contribute to how students with physical and communication impairments perform hands-on and communicative mathematics measurement activities. This study was a follow-up to a previous study. Method Three students with cerebral palsy used the robot to measure objects using non-standard units, such as straws, and then compared and ordered the objects using the resulting measurement. Their performance was assessed, and the manipulation and communication events were observed. Teachers and education assistants were interviewed regarding robot use. Results Similar benefits to the previous study were found in this study. Gaps in student procedural knowledge were identified such as knowing to place measurement units tip-to-tip, and students’ reporting revealed gaps in conceptual understanding. However, performance improved with repeated practice. Stakeholders identified that some robot tasks took too long or were too difficult to perform. Conclusions Having access to both their SGD and a robot gave the students multiple ways to show their understanding of the measurement concepts. Though they could participate actively in the new mathematics activities, robot use is most appropriate in short tasks requiring reasonable operational skill.Implications for RehabilitationLego robots controlled via speech-generating devices (SGDs) can help students to engage in the mathematics pedagogy of performing hands-on activities while communicating about concepts.Students can “show what they know” using the Lego robots, and report and reflect on concepts using the SGD.Level 1 and Level 2 mathematics measurement activities have been adapted to be accomplished by the Lego robot. Other activities can likely be accomplished with similar robot adaptations (e.g., gripper, pen).It is not recommended to use the robot to measure items that are long, or perform measurements that require high operational competence in order to be successful.