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Modular robotics studio
Abstract
The Modular Robotics Studio will engage participants in a structured exploration (guided play) and reflective discussion of the principles and practice of building interactive experiences with a modular reconfigurable construction kit of robot components.
... In experiments we used modular robots Cubelets. These robots are flexible, modular and easy to assemble and reconfigure [42,43]. The robots are capable for transmitting information between each other and performing a wide range of actions. ...
... Cubelets are modular robots [42,43]. Theoretically, we can have an infinite number of robots which can be constructed. ...
Propagating patterns are used to transfer and process information in chemical and physical prototypes of unconventional computing devices. Logical values are represented by fronts of traveling diffusive, trigger or phase waves. We apply this concept of pattern based computation to develop experimental prototypes of computing circuits implemented in small modular robots. In the experimental prototypes the modular robots Cubelets are concatenated into channels and junction. The structures developed by Cubelets propagate signals in parallel and asynchronously. The approach is illustrated with a working circuit of a one-bit full adder. Complementarily a formalization of these constructions are developed across Sleptsov nets. Finally, a perspective to swarm dynamics is discussed.
... The CreaCube task is a creative problem-solving task engaging the participant in exploring and assembling four modular robotic Cubelets (Schweikardt, 2010). The configurations of the task can be analyzed to operationalize the DT component scores. ...
Introduction
This study looked at how an assessment instruction and test anxiety (TA) can influence divergent thinking (DT) components of creativity in a playful robotic problem-solving task.
Methods
We measured TA and creative performance (TD) under assessment and non-assessment conditions in 122 secondary students engaged in creative problem solving (CPS).
Result
The aspects of DT (fluidity and originality) showed a tendency to be impacted by assessment instruction. Thus, under non-assessment conditions, the learners show higher fluidity and better originality in the first occurrence of the CPS task. In the second occurrence, time spent on CPS decreases. Moreover, the originality turns to be impaired in the second trial and only student under assessment maintain their engagement in the activity. No correlation was found between TA and DT, and no gender or age differences were observed. The results suggest that TA does not influence the performance of the students involved in creative problem-solving processes.
Discussion
We discuss the findings in relation to game-based learning specificities. The assessment instruction in playful activities can be perceived as a positive challenge and even the students showing higher levels of test anxiety do not perceive it as a threat. Furthermore, if time constraints are minimized, the impact of assessment instruction on creative performance might be further reduced. The finding of this study opens promising perspectives to the research on innovative forms of school assessment and creative problem solving.
... Think Cubelets include Inverter, which performs a mathematical operation equivalent to 1-value, a Maximum Cubelet, which forwards only the maximum value that it receives on any of its faces, as well as the Blocker, which only forwards energy, and the passive Cubelet, which forwards both energy and power it receives [132]. Cubelets exchange sensor information and transmit data and power between the blocks [133]. ...
Motivated by the recent explosion of interest around Educational Robotics (ER), this paper attempts to re-approach this area by suggesting new ways of thinking and exploring the related concepts. The contribution of the paper is fourfold. First, future readers can use this paper as a reference point for exploring the expected learning outcomes of educational robotics. From an exhaustive list of potential learning gains, we propose a set of six learning outcomes that can offer a starting point for a viable model for the design of robotic activities. Second, the paper aims to serve as a survey for the most recent ER platforms. Driven by the growing number of available robotics platforms, we have gathered the most recent ER kits. We also propose a new way to categorize the platforms, free from their manufacturers’ vague age boundaries. The proposed categories, including
No Code
,
Basic Code
, and
Advanced Code
, are derived from the prior knowledge and the programming skills that a student needs to use them efficiently. Third, as the number of ER competitions, and tournaments increases in parallel with ER platforms’ increase, the paper presents and analyses the most popular robotic events. Robotics competitions encourage participants to develop and showcase their skills while promoting specific learning outcomes. The paper aims to provide an overview of those structures and discuss their efficacy. Finally, the paper explores the educational aspects of the presented ER competitions and their correlation with the six proposed learning outcomes. This raises the question of which primary features compose a competition and achieve its’ pedagogical goals. This paper is the first study that correlates potential learning gains with ER competitions to the best of our knowledge.
... From the authors' viewpoint, this project has few features in common with transreality puzzles. Rather, it is a computerized and motorized construction set and is presented here for illustration purposes only [13]. ...
In this article, the authors review puzzles and construction sets falling under the category of
augmented reality games and, at the same time, serving as the elements of TUI interfaces. The review does
not include games based on jigsaw puzzles (dissection puzzles, where the player has to put together a set of
fragments of variously shaped images). Transreality puzzles are electronic-mechanical puzzles (usually
three-dimensional), where the gameplay takes place both in the domain of a virtual game, and in that of a
mechanical device.
... From the author's viewpoint, this project has few features in common with transreality puzzles. Rather, it is a computerized and motorized construction set and presented here for the sake of illustration only [Schweikardt, 2011]. (Fig. 13) ...
The author considers a class of mechatronic puzzles falling in the mixed-reality category, present examples of such devices, and propose a way to categorize them. Close relationships of such devices with the Tangible User Interface are described. The device designed by the author as an illustration of a mixed reality puzzle is presented.
... There are so many different kinds of robot toys for children: educational robots [27][28], robot pets [29][30], etc. Their purposes are many depending on the goal they are designed for. ...
Because of the fast technological development of the past few years, understandable bridges between the technical and the legal domains are urgently needed. In this respect, this paper pioneers the identification and examination of confusing categories among ISO 13482:2014 ‘Robots and Robotics Devices—Safety Requirements for Personal Care Robots’. It aims to make roboticists aware of the importance of clearer definitions for legal compliance purposes: although clarity may be missing in the legal domain, robot creators are still legally liable for their creations. The choice of the robot category is also controversial: a robot should be assigned to a category if it does not fully fit in it, as this may even lead to an abuse of the Law. A precise categorization is necessary and based on the robot category specific regulations and laws should be taken into consideration and respected.
... For this study we used a system called Cubelets, which connect using magnets and transmit data and power between the blocks [16]. Cubelets have been used to some extent in the classroom and in settings like science museums; however, there has been limited study of the effectiveness of the Cubelets for teaching computer science [13]. ...
Changes to school curriculums increasingly require the introduction of computer science concepts to younger children. This practical report compares three existing tools for teaching computer science concepts: unplugged computing, tangible computing and MIT's Scratch. We specifically focus on the use of these tools for school pupils aged 5--7. We describe a comparative study with 28 pupils from three rural UK primary schools that explores engagement with, and effectiveness of, each tool. As far as we are aware this is the first such comparative study of its kind. We demonstrate that the studied tools can be used to successfully introduce core computer science concepts to pupils as young as 5 years of age, that the methods used by teachers to deliver computing curriculums may greatly impact the learning outcomes, and that particular care needs to be taken to ensure that pupils focus on learning concepts rather than learning tools.
... However, designed cases in this aspect are limited and most of them are in formal teaching environment, such as wooden cubes [3], colored rods [6] and Beelight [12], which are for the purpose of knowledge learning and problem solving. In play in informal environment, objects are always different types of toys, including fancy toys such as electronic bricks, Topobo [8], littleBits [1], Cubelets [11] and Blockuits [10], role-playing toys such as robots, and sports toys such as toy cars, etc. In the following sections, this paper defines demand points through field research, put forward assumptions and conduct design. ...
Objects, whether toys or not, are likely to become the center of children's game, which can trigger children's exploration and imagination, and build the world's environmental and psychological statements by manipulating something, to enhance the autonomy of children and inspire their creativity. This paper, based on scaffolding learning theory, puts forward the learning principle of constructive play suitable for learning in play school, suitable for cognitive behaviors of children aged 5 to 8 years old, and aims to encourage children to think creatively in the course of play, rather than learning knowledge and solve problems. We redesign the images, most commonly used by children RPG storytelling, and embed interactive intelligence, to better help children play games, stimulate their imagination and creativity in storytelling, and encourage them share with their companions and parents.
In existing modular toys, information is transmitted by invisible electrical signals, making it difficult to understand the information flow between modules. This study developed a modular toy, “Hikari-Tsumiki,” that visualizes the information flow between modules by light emission. For the development of the system, we set design guidelines based on the design principles of Scratch Jr and developed the actual system. The developed system has the following features: Visualize information flow using light, modules that can work even on their own, various module types, and a wooden appearance. We conducted an experiment to quantitatively evaluate the effect of visualization by light using the developed system. In the experiment, we conducted a function exploration task and a free trial task and compared the conditions with and without visualization by light. The experiment results showed that although understanding the function of each module was not promoted, the positive impression of the system was enhanced in some aspects in light condition.
Autonomous monitoring of infrastructure systems offers a promising alternative to manual inspection techniques which are mostly tedious, expensive and prone to error. Robot-based autonomous monitoring systems not only provide higher precision, but they also allow frequent inspection of infrastructure systems at a much lower cost. Recent advancements in robotic systems have led to the development of reconfigurable swarm robots (RSR) that can change their shape and functionality dynamically, without any external intervention. RSR have the advantages of being modular, on-site reconfigurable, multifunctional, incrementally assemble-able, reusable, fault-tolerant, and even repairable on the orbit. Newly-developed reconfigurable robots are expected to bring a radical change in the prevailing structural health monitoring techniques, thus augmenting the efficiency, accuracy and affordability of inspection operations. This paper presents a holistic review of the previous studies and state-of-the-art technologies in the field of RSR, and argues that RSR offer great potential advantages from the perspective of monitoring and assessment of civil and mechanical systems. A roadmap for future research has also been outlined based on the limitations of the current methods and anticipated needs of future inspection systems.
De voorbije jaren worden gekenmerkt door een verhoogde interesse in robotica, waarbij analisten steevast wijzen naar robotica als één van de volgende grote technologische trends. Dit is niet verrassend; de technologie werd gestaag verbeterd in de afgelopen decennia en bereikt nu uiteindelijk een kantelpunt waarop robots niet langer beperkt zijn tot de fabrieksomgevingen. Geleidelijk verschuift de aandacht binnen robotica van robots die functioneren binnen hun eigen afgebakende ruimtes naar robots die samenleven in de natuurlijke habitat van mensen. Naar gelang het gebruik van robots in het dagelijkse leven steeds vaker voorkomt, wordt het belang van intuïtieve communicatie met deze complexe systemen duidelijk. Simpelweg gezegd: we zouden onze wereld niet moeten aanpassen aan robots. In plaats daarvan moeten nieuwe robots zo ontworpen worden dat ze om kunnen gaan met onze wereld op een zinvolle manier. Deze evolutie zorgt niet alleen voor meer focus op robot veiligheid en conformiteit, het het resulteert ook in stijgende interesse in sociale robotica en Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), een onderzoeksveld dat betrekking heeft op de natuurlijke interactie tussen robots en mensen. Sociale robots zijn robots die kunnen communiceren door middel van intuïtieve sociale vaardigheden, zoals bijvoorbeeld door middel van emoties, gelaatsexpressies, spraak, en oogcontact. Echter, onderzoek binnen mens-robot interactie houdt zich momenteel voornamelijk bezig met het programmeren van gedragingen op standaard robots, en het ontwerp van de belichaming van de robots blijft vaak een onverkende ontwerpdimensie. Het snel kunnen ontwerpen van belichamingen voor sociale robots heeft een groot potentieel. Eén van de doelen van dit werk is om het ontwerp van belichamingen voor sociale robots te vergemakkelijken, om zo het verborgen potentieel van deze ontwerpdimensie naar voor te brengen. Momenteel zien we een andere grote trend die de moderne maatschappij zal beïnvloeden: de heropleving van het do-it-yourself (DIY) paradigma. De vernieuwde focus van DIY gaat veel verder dan de amateur-radio’s en huis-tuin-en-keuken klusjes van weleer. De hedendaagse DIY trends, zoals de maker movement en de open source hardware beweging, omarmen en belichamen technologie in zijn geheel. Deze trends zijn verantwoordelijk voor het toegankelijk maken van heel wat exclusieve en complexe technologieën, zoals bijvoorbeeld microcontrollers, 3D printers, CNC machines en robots. Het belang hiervan is niet de technologie op zich, maar het feit dat deze technologieën toegankelijk gemaakt worden voor een breed publiek, wat leidt tot nieuwe en onverwachte toepassingen. Het werk dat beschreven wordt in dit proefschrift bevindt zich op het kruispunt tussen deze twee grote trends. Het proefschrift bespreekt de oorsprong en de ontwikkeling van Opsoro (open platform for social robots), een DIY platform dat amateurs en non-experts in staat stelt om zelf sociale robots te ontwerpen en te bouwen. Het platform werd specifiek ontworpen om open source, goedkoop, en gemakkelijk in gebruik te zijn. De platform-aanpak wordt gebruikt om sociale robotica technologie toegankelijk te maken voor een breed publiek. Vaak zijn robot-ontwerpers en robot-gebruikers twee afzonderlijke groepen, elk met hun eigen kennis en vaardigheden. Het is niet vanzelfsprekend om kennis uit te wisselen tussen deze partijen. Daarom is het zinvol om gebruikers in staat te stellen om zelf hun robots te bouwen in plaats van een oplossing voor hen te ontwerpen. Het ontwerp van een platform is een veel complexer gebeuren dan het ontwerp van een product. Een product wordt door één persoon ontworpen en wordt door een ander persoon gebruikt. Een platform wordt ontworpen door een systeemontwerper, het wordt gebruikt door een tussenpersoon om een product te ontwerpen, en dat product wordt uiteindelijk gebruikt door een eindgebruiker. Het ontwerp van een robotica-platform is niet alleen uitdagend vanuit een technisch standpunt, maar ook vanwege de impact van menselijke factoren op alle aspecten van het systeem. Bijgevolg schieten traditionele engineering-methodieken tekort, en moet er een andere aanpak worden gebruikt. In dit werk wordt daarom een holistische, user-centered ontwerpmethodologie gehanteerd. Deze aanpak houdt rekening met de rol van verschillende gebruikers doorheen het ontwerpproces, en steunt op meerdere iteraties om stapsgewijs inzichten te verwerven in de gebruikseisen en de gebruikscontexten. Binnen dit proces wordt het belang van gebruiksgemak en gebruikservaring benadrukt omdat deze aspecten de sleutel vormen tot het slagen van complexe, iteratieve systemen. Doorheen dit werk wordt gebruik gemaakt van digitale productietechnieken zoals 3D printing en laser cutting om het ontwerpproces te ondersteunen. De ontwerpbeslissing om digitale productietechnieken te gebruiken heeft implicaties op de doelstellingen van dit project. Binnen digitale productietechnieken wordt de informatie die nodig is om een onderdeel te produceren vervat binnen een digitaal bestand. Computergestuurde machines gebruiken deze informatie om automatisch fysieke onderdelen te creëren zonder een beroep te doen op de vaardigheid of het vakmanschap van de operator van de machine. Dit laatste punt is belangrijk voor de reproduceerbaarheid van een ontwerp: het vergemakkelijkt delen via het internet, het verlaagt de barrière om een ontwerp te kopiëren, en het zorgt voor een hoge graad aan herhaalbaarheid. Dit heeft een belangrijke invloed op de openheid van het systeem, en maakt het mogelijk om online communities te stichten. Een andere intrinsieke eigenschap van digitale productietechniek is dat een hoge graad van ontwerpcomplexiteit gebruikt kan worden, waardoor ontwerpers extra functionaliteiten (bv. instructies) kunnen integreren in de vormgeving van een onderdeel. Dit aspect wordt gebruikt om het gemakkelijker te maken om ontwerpen te reproduceren en te assembleren. De vele ontwerpiteraties hebben uiteindelijk geleid tot de huidige versie van het Opsoro platform. Iedere iteratie zorgde voor andere inzichten in het slagen of falen van verschillende aanpakken, en binnen de verschillende iteraties werden de ontwerp-, bouw-, en gebruik-fases van een platform verkend. Het is belangrijk om aan te geven dat het ontwerpproces niet lineair is. Het is een complex netwerk van ontwerpen die geïnspireerd zijn op en beïnvloed zijn door andere ontwerpen. Binnen dit proefschrift worden vijf ver-schillende projecten beschreven. Het eerste project gaat over wandelende hexapod robots. Dit was één van de eerste exploraties binnen DIY robotica, en beïnvloedde de constructietechnieken die gebruikt werden doorheen de rest van dit werk. Ten tweede wordt het ontwerp van een bouwkit voor kleinschalige educatieve robots beschreven. Het derde en vierde project gaat over het ontwerp van Ono, een DIY sociale robot gemaakt voor interactie-experimenten met kinderen. Tenslotte gaat het vijfde project over het Opsoro platform, wat verder bouwt op de voorgaande projecten. Binnen elk van deze projecten werd experimenten met amateurgebruikers uitgevoerd waarin de ontwerp-, bouw-, en gebruiksfases van de tools telkens onderzocht werden. Het Opsoro platform wordt omschreven als het finale project binnen dit werk. Echter, het ontwerpproces wordt verder gezet en het systeem wordt momenteel verder ontwikkeld met oog op commercialisatie. Er wordt momenteel gewerkt om tegen 2018 een Opsoro starter kit te lanceren als product, met een sterke focus op STEAM-educatie. Het nieuwe platform bouwt verder op de stevige fundamenten van dit proefschrift om te leiden tot een uitbreidbare set van modulaire maker-kits die kunnen gebruikt worden om eigen sociale robots te creëren en te bouwen. Verder wordt de software momenteel omgevormd tot een online ontwikkelingsomgeving en educatieve community. De web-gebaseerde interface stelt gebruikers in staat om hun creaties te bedienen via een groeiend aantal apps, wat leer- en speelactiviteiten op maat van iedere gebruiker mogelijk maakt. Hiermee hopen we de kennis die verzameld werd binnen dit onderzoek toegankelijk te maken voor het brede publiek, om zo een significante impact te hebben op de manier waarop sociale robots ontworpen worden door de toekomstige generatie.
Tangible user interface (TUI) на русский язык можно перевести как «материальный» или «ощутимый» интерфейс пользователя. В насто-ящей статье делается обзор современных технических средств, использу-емых при построении материальных пользовательских интерфейсов. Обзор нацелен на определение возможностей использования TUI как расширение чловеко-компьютерного взаимодействия в технологиях гей-мификации.
In this paper we compare two tools for co-designing smart connected devices on their playfulness. First littleBits, a commercially available tool and Loaded Dice, a self developed tool, are introduced. Second frameworks for comparing the playfulness of such tools are briefly reviewed. We then report on co-design sessions we conducted with blind and visually impaired students and compare those sessions on the playfulness of the two tools. It is shown how tools that engage in playful exploration sustain successful co-design sessions, while tools with a lower level of playfulness constrain such co-design sessions to an extent where more functional and less imaginative design concepts are produced.
The outcome of a multidisciplinary and iterative process, CyberPLAYce is a tangible, interactive, cyber-physical learning tool for children supporting computational thinking and, particularly, playful storytelling. CyberPLAYce finds inspiration in the concept of child-computer interaction, where meaning is constructed through spatially reconfiguring the physical environment. The novel aspect of CyberPLAYce is its extension of cyber-learning to the dimension of space where children construct meaning at a larger physical scale. This paper outlines the motivations for CyberPLAYce, focuses on the full arc of design and evaluation activities concerning computational thinking (CT) practices that engaged 8-12-year-old storytellers, and concludes with a consideration of future work focusing on spatial thinking with CyberPLAYce. Results from our empirical study suggest that cyber-physical play afforded by CyberPLAYce scaffolds computational thinking, creating, and sharing in children. Particularly for IDC researchers in the educational domain, CyberPLAYce represents a Research-through-design exemplar supporting children's enjoyment of learning and meaning-construction.
Employing Modular Robotic Systems (MRS) in different application domains confronts a large number of challenging problems in design, optimization, and planning, and so identifying characteristics of such problems is an important step toward finding proper solution approaches for them. In this paper, we address this issue and provide a comprehensive study on MRS through a structured survey about MRS characteristics and their applications. A novel framework called MITE is proposed to characterize both the properties and applications of MRS from four perspectives of Module, Information, Task, and Environment, based on more than 120 domain-specific features, supplemented by a mapping scheme for describing the interrelations of the four basic aspects of the Task component, namely, Application (for describing high-level tasks such as navigation and rescue), Behavior (for referring to constitutive behaviors like locomotion and manipulation which bring about Applications), Goal (for characterizing the way Behaviors are accomplished), and Operation (for designating activities specific to modular robots, such as self-reconfiguration and gait control). Also, by providing a methodical review on modular robotics, the paper deals with some analyses on recent trends, research gaps and challenges, as well as open problems in the field of MRS.
In this paper, we present the design of a new structural extension for the e-puck mobile robot. The extension may be used to transform what is traditionally a swarm robotics platform into a self-reconfigurable modular robotic system. We introduce a modified version of a previously developed collective locomotion algorithm and present new experimental results across three different themes. We begin by investigating how the performance of the collective locomotion algorithm is affected by the size and shape of the robotic structures involved, examining structures containing up to nine modules. Without alteration to the underlying algorithm, we then analyse the implicit self-assembling and self-reconfiguring capabilities of the system and show that the novel use of ‘virtual sensors’ can significantly improve performance. Finally, by examining a form of environment driven self-reconfiguration, we observe the behaviour of the system in a more complex environment. We conclude that the modular e-puck extension represents a viable platform for investigating collective locomotion, self-assembly and self-reconfiguration.
The roBlocks construction kit is a tangible concurrent programming environment that encapsulates sensory, kinetic, and computational behavior in modular building block units that snap together to construct robots. The choice of a protocol for propagating values through the constructed robot affects its behavior.
We describe work in progress on roBlocks, a computational construction kit that encourages users to experiment and play with a collection of sensor, logic and actuator blocks, exposing them to a variety of advanced concepts including kinematics, feedback and distributed control. Its interface presents novice users with a simple, tangible set of robotic blocks, whereas advanced users work with software tools to analyze and rewrite the programs embedded in each block. Early results suggest that roBlocks may be an effective vehicle to expose young people to complex ideas in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.