Teaching Robotics with a Simulator Environment Developed for the Autonomous Driving Competition

Fernandes, David; Pinheiro, Francisco Irochima; Dias, André; Martins, Alfredo; Almeida, J.; Silva, Eduardo

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-26945-6_35

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

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“…Virtual approaches for educational robotics remove the need for costly peripherals on top of the required computer or tablet, thereby making robotics more accessible while still successfully engaging students with key ideas in STEM [8,21,24,56]. AR functionality has the potential to take this engagement and learning even further [13,16], yet AR-robot integration to date focuses on entertainment [41], communication [53,54], or debugging features for physical robots [2,12], rather than on hardware alternatives for education.…”

Section: Addressing Cost Constraints With Virtual Roboticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

ARtonomous: Introducing Middle School Students to Reinforcement Learning Through Virtual Robotics

Dietz

Chen

Beason

et al. 2022

Interaction Design and Children

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Typical educational robotics approaches rely on imperative programming for robot navigation. However, with the increasing presence of AI in everyday life, these approaches miss an opportunity to introduce machine learning (ML) techniques grounded in an authentic and engaging learning context. Furthermore, the needs for costly specialized equipment and ample physical space are barriers that limit access to robotics experiences for all learners. We propose ARtonomous, a relatively low-cost, virtual alternative to physical, programming-only robotics kits. With ARtonomous, students employ reinforcement learning (RL) alongside code to train and customize virtual autonomous robotic vehicles. Through a study evaluating ARtonomous, we found that middle-school students developed an understanding of RL, reported high levels of engagement, and demonstrated curiosity for learning more about ML. This research demonstrates the feasibility of an approach like ARtonomous for 1) eliminating barriers to robotics education and 2) promoting student learning and interest in RL and ML.

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